Always
by Rokudaime Kunoichi
Summary: Sequel to Never. The Wizarding World has turned its back on Harry yet again. Voldemort is back and the school needs to be united now more than ever. Will people from Harry's past be enough to help him come out on top in this war? OoTP. PeterHarry slash.
1. Chapter 1: The Dream and Grimmauld Place

Disclaimer: **Harry Potter and co. belong to J.K. Rowling and Peter Pan belongs to J.M. Barrie. No copyright/trademark infringement is intended and no profit is being made from the making of this story.**

Chapter One – The Dream and Grimmauld Place

"_Harry, come fly with me?"_

_Harry smiled at the other boy, accepting the hand offered to him. He was pulled up into the air and Harry closed his eyes. He had missed this; the feeling of safety and love. Not having to worry about the pressures of adult hood and not having to make such hard decisions; decisions that cost the lives of others. Harry immediately stopped smiling, remembering the way Diggory had died. His heart dropped instantly and Harry felt his throat close up._

"_What's the matter, Harry?"_

"_I wish I had stayed in Neverland, Peter," Harry responded, dropping his head. "And at the same time, I'm glad I didn't."_

"_What happened?" Peter asked, leading them to sit on a cloud._

"_I'm glad I left Neverland because I've got other friends and a godfather. I've got people that love me. I wish I didn't leave Neverland so that I didn't have to grow up and handle this responsibility the Wizarding World gave to me."_

_Peter smiled sadly and hugged Harry, who snuggled into the warmth the other boy had to offer. "I wish you needn't go through this."_

"_So do I," Harry whispered. He then pulled away and sighed tiredly. "I miss you."_

"_I miss you too; we all do."_

_Harry stood up and got off the cloud. He flew around absentmindedly, aware that Peter was watching him. Harry smiled when Peter grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. Harry placed one hand on Peter's shoulder and held the other's hand while one of Peter's hands was on his waist. They danced not unlike the time when they were in Neverland. Harry sighed contentedly. This felt so incredibly right. So incredibly perfect. Peter grabbed Harry's chin with his fingers. He smiled down at him and started to lean forward. Harry's breath hitched slightly. Was Peter going to kiss him?_

"_Harry," the other boy whispered._

"_Yes, Peter?" Harry murmured, his eyes closing gently._

"_Time to get up," Peter said softly into Harry's ear. The smaller boy's eyes snapped open._

"_What?" Harry felt himself stir awake. But, he didn't want to wake up now! Peter smiled sadly at him and leaned down to plant a light kiss on his lips._

"Boy, get up and make breakfast! Now!"

Harry groaned as he was forced to leave the dream world and enter the real world. He yawned tiredly before throwing the covers off and stumbling out of the room. By the time he had finished with his morning ablutions and was at the end of the stairs, Aunt Petunia was glaring at him. Without so much as uttering a word to him, she pointed to the kitchen where she had undoubtedly started to fry the bacon. Harry kept his eyes downcast as he made the Dursleys their breakfast. He served the food, ignoring his growling stomach, and began to clean up.

"Boy, we are going to go do some shopping today for Dudley's things. You are to stay here and finish up your chores. Is that understood?" Uncle Vernon told Harry, his stern, beady eyes making him feel uncomfortable.

"Yes, sir," Harry muttered. His jaw clenched as the Dursleys finished their meal, leaving not even scraps for him, and left after Dudley made a few snide comments. When the lights began to flicker, Harry took deep breathes in an effort to control his anger. It wasn't long before everything went back to normal and Harry felt calmer. Unfortunately, he didn't notice that every light on Privet Drive had also flickered, causing some amount of panic to spread.

Harry shivered as he felt a cold gust of wind on his back. Whirling around, he noticed a window was open. Frowning slightly, he closed it and returned to doing the dishes. His mind began to wander back to the dream he had had before he was so rudely awoken earlier. Harry smiled sadly; he missed Peter so much. Missed feeling so safe and care free and not pressured. A blush spread across his face as he remembered the last part of the dream.

A cold gust of wind hit Harry again and he spun around, slipping and hitting the cold, unforgiving floor. He mentally cursed his inability to keep his feet firmly planted and looked up. The damn window was open yet again, and he hastily got to his feet and closed it. Harry fingered the wand in his pocket and looked around the room. The only thing there was furniture. Harry took deep breathes and finished his chores in a rush. Every few minutes he would stop whatever he was doing and make sure he was the only living thing in the house.

The rational part of his mind was telling him that he was just paranoid, but Harry figured he'd rather be paranoid than dead. Harry felt cold once more and cursed out loud. He turned around only to freeze. In front of him was a big, dark dementor. It stared and appeared to be inspecting him. What was wrong with it? Slowly, Harry grabbed his wand and pointed it at the dementor. The Patronus Charm was at the tip of his tongue when he heard somebody else call out, "_Expect Patronum_!"

Harry whirled his wand at the intruder and relaxed slightly before stiffening. "What did Snuffles say to the bat in third year when we were playing with the rat?"

Remus Lupin grinned widely. "He told him to run along and play with his chemistry set. What is your patronus form?"

"A stag." Harry returned the grin and lowered his wand before jerking his head at the three people behind Remus. "Who are they?"

"That will be explained when we get to where we need to go," Remus answered evasively. Harry cocked an eyebrow.

"I certainly hope that's the real Moody."

"Yes, he—"

"We don't have time for this, Lupin. We need to leave before another dementor comes for the boy," Moody growled, his magical eye jerking madly. He turned towards Harry. "That was a fine show of constant vigilance! However, your reflexes are too slow. Had we been anybody else, you would be dead right now."

"Wotcher, Moody, don't be so hard on him. He's only a kid," said the only female of the group.

"He isn't just a kid, Nymphadora," Moody growled, glaring at her. "He's the only hope of this world."

"Don't call me Nymphadora!" the woman practically shrieked, her hot pink hair quickly turning a furious red.

"Can't we keep the peace long enough to do the task at hand?" the last unknown man said, rubbing his temples.

"Shacklebolt is right," Remus said. "We have to get Harry out of here."

"Wait," Harry cried out. "Where are we going?"

"Away from here, Potter. We need to leave before anything else comes for you." Moody's magical eye swirled around, searching for what Harry assumed potential threats.

"Harry, I assure you, when we get to where we need to get, you'll not be kept in the dark any longer." Remus looked into Harry's eyes to show him he was speaking the truth.

"Alright," Harry agreed.

"Good," Remus smiled. "Now go to your room and pack your things. You'll be staying with the Weasleys for the rest of your hols."

Harry grinned widely and turned to go upstairs. He heard the rest of them follow him, but said nothing. Harry quickly entered his room and immediately moved his bed. Ignoring the raised eyebrows momentarily, Harry moved a loose floorboard and gathered his things. Hidden in the secret crevice were his invisibility cloak, broom, some food, and a DADA textbook.

"I'm not allowed to have my trunk with me so before I came here, I shrink some things to sneak in," Harry explained.

"Broom and food for emergency, invisibility cloak for discretion, and the textbook to look up and study defensive and offensive spells," Moody analyzed. "I'll assume you always have your wand on you, yes?"

Harry nodded his head. "Of course."

"If your relatives refuse to allow you access to your trunk, why would they allow access to your wand?"

"They don't. I put one of Fred and George's fake wands in my trunk and keep mine," Harry elaborated.

"I see you've got a good head on your shoulders, something you've inherited from your parents no doubt," Moody grinned.

Harry flushed slightly at the compliment and gathered his things. "The rest of my things are downstairs in m—the cupboard."

He led them downstairs, not noticing Tonks and Shacklebolt exchange slightly confused looks at the unintentional slip. Harry froze when he noticed the padlock on the door to the cupboard under the stairs and mentally cursed. He had forgotten the Dursleys kept the key with them.

"What's the matter, Harry?" Tonks asked, looking at him curiously.

"My uncle has the key," Harry said.

"Alohamora," Remus said, pointing his wand at the padlock. The lock disappeared into nothingness, allowing Harry to take his trunk out of the cupboard. He opened it and quickly put his things inside except for his broom, which Moody told him to leave out. Confused, Harry did as he was told. It was at that moment that the Dursleys returned home. Harry watched the scene before him as if it were in slow motion. Dudley had walked into the house, loudly demanding something of his parents when he noticed the group of wizards (and one witch, thank you very much!). All color drained from his face and, instinctively, one hand went to cover his mouth while the other went to cover his bum. Uncle Vernon's face turned red.

"What are you freaks doing in my house?" he snarled. The wizards' eyebrows lifted together in unison. Freaks?

"Mr. Dursley, we are merely here to collect Harry," Remus said diplomatically. Vernon turned to glare at Harry.

"You're the reason these freaks are here. I won't have any of this freakish nonsense in my house, do you hear me boy?" the obese man said viciously. He stepped forward towards Harry and would've probably smacked him upside the head had it not been for a wand pointed in his direction.

"I'm leaving for the remainder of the summer and will not return until the school term is over. Attempt to stop me and I will hex you," Harry said quietly but dangerously. The air was buzzing with his loose magic, raising the little hairs at the back of their necks.

"You're not allowed to do magic outside of school. You wouldn't dare risk getting expelled," Vernon replied, his voice laced with fear and a twinge of confidence.

"Try me," Harry spat. "Tell me, Dudley, would you like for me to give you back that pig's tail? I'm sure pig ears will be a charming addition, yeah?"

Dudley let out a squeal of distress before his eyes rolled in the back of his head. It seemed like the entire house shook as his grossly overweight body hit the floor. Aunt Petunia, who had remained quiet for the entire exchange, seemed to snap out of her daze.

"Just get out," she said as she stepped aside. "Hurry and go before the neighbors see you. And don't come back until next summer!"

Harry stiffly nodded his head and walked towards the door. Petunia glared at him and the rest of the wizards before slamming the door closed. Tonks coughed slightly at the incredibly awkward moment. She glanced at Harry with a flash of something in her eyes before it was gone.

"Fabulous woman. She and my Aunt Bellatrix ought to have tea sometime," Tonks mumbled, earning a confused look from Harry and a strangled chuckle from Shacklebolt.

"Come, let's go to Headquarters," Remus said gently. He easily hid his confusion and worry at the Dursley's and Harry's mutual dislike of each other.

"How are we getting there, Moony?" Harry asked, looking at the uncle-figure curiously.

"We," Remus grinned, "are going to fly there."

"Fly? But, won't the Muggles see us? And what about the Ministry of Magic? They'd have a fit, wouldn't they?" Harry replied, worried and excited, realizing why Moody told him to leave out his Firebolt.

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Potter. You're traveling with four adult wizards—" Shacklebolt began.

"And witch," interrupted Tonks, mock glaring her partner.

"Excuse me, three adult wizards and one adult witch," Shacklebolt corrected, earning a satisfied grin from the now blonde Tonks. "We, therefore, are able to do magic. We'll cast a disillusionment charm on all of us."

"Disillusionment charm?" Harry asked quietly, scanning his brain.

"A charm that enables the people under it to not be seen. It's kind of like putting on an invisibility cloak," Remus explained, quickly slipping into teacher mode.

Moody growled impatiently and tapped his staff on the ground. Four brooms materialized out of seemingly nowhere and Harry absentmindedly realized that they had probably been under this disillusionment charm. He would definitely have to learn to cast it when he returned to school. Mounting his broom, Harry waited for the charm to be cast on him before he kicked off. The air ran through his hair and he closed his eyes. Sweet Merlin, he missed doing this with Peter. No need for brooms or concealment charms. Just him and Peter, snuggled close together, the wind hitting their faces in feather-like caresses. A stab of regret hit him in the gut.

'_You could have still been with him, had you decided to stay,' _a part of him said viciously. _'But, no; you decided to leave Peter and for what? To become a scapegoat to a world that doesn't deserve your loyalty or time?'_

'_You're wrong,'_ Harry internally replied. _'I have to do this. I'm the Saviour of the Wizarding World; if I don't bother to save it, who will?'_

'_Dumbledore saved the Wizarding World from a Dark Lord before. Why can't he do it again?'_ the voice pointed out mockingly.

'_I—I don't know.' _Harry frowned in confusion; why couldn't Dumbledore save the world again? Was it because only Harry survived the Killing Curse? A feeling deep in his gut told him there was much more to the situation than he knew of and he hated it.

"Alright, Harry, follow me," Remus called, leading the group. Harry was lost in thought until they finally landed, looking around with raised eyebrows.

"London? What's in London?" he asked. Moody reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper.

"Read this, Potter, and memorize it," was the hurried statement. Harry looked at the slip of paper that read, 'Number 12, Grimmauld Place.' As soon as he finished reading git, a house appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Harry's eyes widened.

"Was this under a disillusionment charm as well?"

"No, it isn't. Get inside, I'll explain everything," Remus said quietly, his hand on Harry's shoulder. The small group rushed inside before anybody could see them. Noise assaulted Harry's ears and he winced at the volume. The grip on his shoulder relaxed slightly and led him into a room.

"Harry!"

Harry froze and turned around, a wide grin threatening to split his face in half. "Sirius!" He was pulled into a strong hug, effectively cutting off his circulation.

"Padfoot, I don't think he can breathe," Remus said amusedly. Sirius immediately let go.

"Sorry about that, Harry," Sirius replied sheepishly. "Well, how're you? I hope the Muggles have been treating you great."

"It was fine," Harry said quietly.

"Fine?" The two wizards turned to see Moody, who was glaring slightly at Harry. "Black, they had his school trunk locked in a cupboard! What if he had needed it? The only thing that protected this boy this summer was his thinking of constant vigilance! Had he not decided to keep some things locked away and had we not gotten there in time, the boy would have been as good as dead. And don't think I forgot about Dursley's use of the word 'freak'."

"Dursley did what?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"It's not that big of a deal," Harry said immediately. "Honestly, I'm used to it." That was apparently the wrong thing to say.

"Used to it? Why should you be used to it? How long have they been calling you a freak?" Harry was saved from answering when Molly came down the stairs.

"Harry, dear! Aw, look at how you've grown! How was your summer? Hope those Muggles treated you alright," she said, enveloping him in a big hug.

"It was fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry responded, not meeting Sirius' eyes.

"Great! Now, why don't you go upstairs? The kids are there and so is Hermione. I'm sure you want to catch up?" Molly smiled warmly at him.

"He'll be right up there, Molly. Is it time?" Sirius asked, earning a sharp nod. "Alright. And don't think we won't be having a talk about this later, Harry." The last part was whispered and Harry sighed tiredly before nodding his head in a resigned manner. "Good. Now, all you need to do is go upstairs and your friends are in the first door on the left."

Harry went upstairs quickly, anxious to see his friends. They hadn't sent him any letters and he wanted to know why. Walking over to the first door on the left, he opened it and was ambushed by bushy brown hair. He quickly spat some of it out and returned the hug of one of his best friends.

"Nice to see you as well, Hermione. I recommend you stop using whatever shampoo you normally use; it tastes horrible." The room erupted into laughter at his statement and Hermione slapped his arm playfully.

"Prat! How was your summer?" she asked, smiling brightly at him.

"It was alright. Would have been better if I got any letters," he replied, looking at his friends expectantly.

"We're sorry about that, Harry; Dumbledore forbid us to send you any letters. He said it was too dangerous, with the resurrection of You-Kn—alright, Voldemort! Oh, don't flinch, Ron! It's not _that_ big of a deal," Hermione admonished.

"Yes it is," Ron argued, suppressing another shudder. "Don't say His name!"

"Please, it's not like he's going to materialize out of nowhere! Now, like I was saying, it was too dangerous to send letters. They could fall into the wrong hands."

"It's alright," Harry sighed. "I have a question; is this house under the disillusionment charm? And who's house is it?"

"You didn't know, mate?" Ron asked, surprised. "This is the Black family home. It became Sirius' since he's the heir. And the house is under the Fidelius Charm. Basically, you cast the Fidelius Charm on the house and there's a secret keeper. The only way anybody will know there's a house here is if the secret keeper tells them. I think your parents had it on their house, Harry." Harry and Hermione looked at him with shock. "What?"

"Ron, how do you know so much about the Fidelius Charm? And do you really think my parents used it?" Harry asked softly.

"It's Pureblood stuff," Ron said in a dismissive manner whilst rolling his eyes. "It's not that serious. And I think your parents did use it. I mean, it makes sense. Most families used it whenever they opposed You-Know-Who." Hermione kept on staring at him. "_What?!_"

"If only you used that knowledge and applied it to your academic studies!" she burst out.

"I don't want to!"

"School is _important_, Ron!"

Harry tuned them out as they began to bicker like an old married couple. Did his family use the Fidelius Charm? And if they did, why did they choose Peter Pettigrew as a secret keeper? Surely they would have chosen Sirius or Remus first? Or were they tricked? Harry rubbed his temples. Suddenly, two sets of hands grabbed at his sides. Harry jumped up and shrieked, turning around with his wand drawn. A red hue danced across his face when he realized who is was.

"Fred! George! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" he said, putting his wand away, clutching his heart.

Fred and George laughed. "We can tell, mate."

"And did you know—"

"When you scream—"

"You sound like a girl?" they finished in unison. Harry blushed harder.

"Shut up. What are you guys doing here?"

They grinned mischievously and held up something. "Well, there's an Order meeting going on downstairs."

"Order meeting?" Harry asked, his brow scrunched in confusion.

"The Order of the Phoenix," Hermione explained. "It was created during the first war to stop Voldemort—don't flinch, Ron!—and the Death Eaters. Dumbledore created it, and honestly Fred, George! Your mother banned you both from using those Extendable Ears! And besides, she fixed the wards on the door to not allow those things!"

"Extendable Ears?"

The twins showed him a fleshy-like ear thing. "We invented these. They're called Extendable Ears and basically we'll use them to hear on the other side of the door." They turned to Hermione. "Come on, Hermione. Aren't you DYING to know what's going on? And besides, we've improved these."

The twins walked outside the room and put the Extendable Ear on. Right before they could drop the ear down next to the door where the meeting was held, the door opened and the adult wizards stepped out. Fred squeaked out, "Retreat!"

The kids barely managed to make it into their room. Footsteps were creeping up the stairs and stopped right before the door. They could hear hurried whispers and quickly thought of something to say just as the door opened and Sirius and Remus stepped in.

"And that's why you should always use condoms, kiddies," George said importantly.

"Any questions?" Fred asked, looking at the now-mortified soon-to-be fifth-years.

"What's going on here?" Remus asked, his eyebrows hidden behind his hairline.

"Harry's never had the sex talk!" the twins said together, pointing at the brunet in accusation.

"You haven't?" Sirius asked incredulously, looking at Harry in shock.

Harry blushed a bright red and squeaked out, "No."

The twins looked at him in amazement. "Harry, we were—"

"Just joking. We—"

"Didn't think you'd—"

"Actually not had the—"

"Sex talk yet," they finished together.

"Harry, I think it's time we had that talk now," Sirius mumbled, leading Harry out of the room. Harry shot a helpless look at his friends before leaving the room with Sirius, an amused Remus in tow.

A/N: Yay! Sequel time!! So, surprisingly, only one person guessed how the sequel was going to go last time. Virtual cookies to Amy!! TheGayGod and lazycrazykitten, you were very close, so you also get virtual cookies!! So, this story is going to be an estimated twenty chapters. If you didn't read _Never_, I recommend you do that. This story will tie any loose ends _Never_ had, and in order to understand what's going on, you'll need to read that one. I'd like to thank people who've supported me and encouraged me to continue on with this. Especially my beta, Maxim, who went over _Never_ and decided to beta this sequel. Thank you so much!


	2. Chapter 2: Return to Hogwarts

Disclaimer: **Harry Potter and co. belong to J.K. Rowling and Peter Pan belongs to J.M. Barrie. No copyright/trademark infringement is intended and no profit is being made from the making of this story.**

Chapter Two – Return to Hogwarts

"_And that, Harry, is how humans procreate. Any questions?" Remus asked, barely containing his amusement. Harry, who now resembled a tomato, shook his head furiously in the negative._

"_Well, now that we've embarrassed Harry, and me," Sirius said, coughing the last part slightly, "let's get back to the reason we needed to talk. Tell me, do your relatives really treat you alright?"_

_Harry's face went from red to white. "Yes, Sirius. They treat me fine."_

"_Harry, please don't lie to me," Sirius said quietly. "Don't you think I've noticed how you're smaller than most boys? Or that you're definitely skinnier than how you were before you left Hogwarts last year? Are you eating alright? And what's with your uncle calling you a 'freak'?"_

_Harry sighed and absentmindedly rubbed his scar, an act that did not go unnoticed by the former Marauders. "The Dursleys hate magic," Harry mumbled quietly. "They hate magic and wizards and don't want anything to do with our kind. They don't really mistreat me, Sirius. Normally, they just give me a list of chores to complete and lock me in my room. The Dursleys would rather ignore me and not feed me than anything else."_

"_And how long have they been calling you a freak?" Remus questioned gently._

"_For as long as I can remember. There were times when I had accidental magic. I didn't know I was a wizard or that magic even existed, so weird things were happening around me. One time, I accidently turned my teacher's hairpiece blue. Another time, aunt Petunia cut off all of my hair except for my bangs. It grew back overnight. She also tried to make me wear this ugly brown sweater with orange puff balls. It shrunk to the size of puppet clothes before she could put it on me. And another time, I remember being chased by Dudley and his gang. They were going to catch me when I suddenly ended up on top of the school kitchens."_

_Sirius and Remus exchanged looks before Sirius kneeled in front of the brunet. "Harry, you know you're not a freak, right? The Dursleys, they just don't understand how special you are. And accidental magic happens to every magical child; it's perfectly normal."_

"_Harry, how're you holding up? With what happened last year?" Remus asked quietly._

"_Fine," Harry replied, his face bowed down. "I'm doing alright."_

_Remus gently grabbed Harry's chin and lifted his head up, revealing the tears that started to gather. "You know it wasn't your fault, right?"_

"_Yes it was," Harry cried out, standing up abruptly. Hot tears flowed down his face in rivulets. "It is my fault! If I hadn't told Cedric to grab the cup with me, he would still be here! Or, if I had been stronger, he wouldn't have died!"_

"_Harry, you couldn't have known Voldemort would try to kill you," Sirius tried to comfort. Harry shook his head vehemently._

"_Yes, I could have!" he sobbed. "I kept on having those strange dreams and even though I told you about them, I should've tried harder to figure out what they meant!"_

_Sirius stood up and pulled Harry into a hug, letting the Gryffindor sob into his chest. Harry's body shook from the force of his sobs and he clutched onto Sirius' shirt like it was a lifeline. Sirius rubbed soothing circles on the small of his back until Harry calmed down. Embarrassed, Harry pulled away and gratefully accepted the tissue Remus handed to him._

"_I'm sorry," he apologized softly._

"_It's fine, Harry. You can't keep your emotions locked up all the time. You need an outlet," Remus told him gently. "It's not healthy to just bottle everything up and let it fester."_

"_I know," Harry sniffled. "Can I ask you both something?"_

"_Of course, Harry. Anything," Sirius responded immediately._

"_Can you help me control my emotions? I keep on having bouts of accidental magic because I can't control my anger or something. And that's another thing. I just feel so angry all the time now," Harry confessed._

_Sirius and Remus shared a look. "Harry, accidental magic stops happening around the time a witch or wizard starts school. Only in cases of extreme emotional distress does accidental magic occur. How often and how extreme are these bouts of accidental magic?"_

_Harry fidgeted slightly. "Well, when I'm mad at the smallest of things, my magic makes everything shake. I dunno. And I've been feeling so angry all the time now. Are you disappointed in me?"_

"_Oh, Harry. I'm disappointed, yes, but not in you. Never in you," Sirius said softly. "I'm disappointed because we weren't able to be there for you. Remus and I weren't able to take care of you and watch you grow like we wanted. And here you are, only fifteen, with the weight of the world on your shoulders and you can admit when you need help. Not a lot of adults can do that."_

_Harry wiped away the tears that threatened to fall. "It's not either of your faults. You were in Azkaban and the Ministry is corrupt."_

_Remus smiled and gave Harry a one-armed hug. "I think I know a way to control your emotions."_

"_How?"_

"_Meditation."_

"_Meditation? How is that going to help me?"_

"_Well, for starters, it'll help you clear your mind," Sirius said. "And if you have a clear mind, you can control what you're feeling."_

_Harry nodded his head to show he understood. "Great. When do we start?"_

"Harry, are you sure you're okay? You keep spacing out," Hermione said worriedly. Harry immediately blinked back to reality.

"I'm fine, 'Mione. Just excited to go back to school, for once," Harry replied brightly. "I feel like something exciting is going to happen."

"Duh! Something exciting always happens at Hogwarts," Ron interjected before he stuffed his face with sweets he had gotten from the trolley. Hermione's face scrunched up in disgust.

"Ugh, Ron, chew with your mouth closed! Honestly, you eat like a pig!" she exclaimed. Harry, sensing an argument coming up, quickly stood.

"I'm going to go for a walk. See you guys later," he said as he left the compartment. His best friends paid him no mind as they started to bicker like an old married couple.

Harry walked down the halls of the Hogwarts Express, looking for an empty compartment. At the moment, he wanted to be alone. His thoughts were scrambled and a couple of breathing exercises he had learned from Remus and Sirius could really help. Quickly walking into a compartment, Harry went to sit down when he realized somebody was already in the compartment.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I thought this…was…empty…" Harry trailed off, looking at the person with wide eyes. His breath caught in his throat and he swallowed thickly. "Peter?"

Peter smiled widely at Harry. "Hello, Harry. Fancy meeting you here," he replied.

"When…? How…? Huh…?" Harry stuttered, sitting across from Peter.

"Right after I took you back to your relatives' house," Peter said softly to the half-spoken question. "I decided it was time to grow up, so I left Neverland."

"That's…wow…I meant," Harry stammered. "I'm so happy! I had a feeling I'd see you again, but after five years I was starting to lose hope."

Peter grinned. "Now, Harry, you couldn't get rid of me even if you tried."

Harry flushed. "Um, where are Tinker Bell, Winter Chime, and Summer Chime?"

"Sleeping in my pocket."

"Great! Not to be rude or anything, but how did you get into Hogwarts? I mean, I know you were supposed to go a long time ago, but why now?"

"Well," Peter started, "I had a chat with the Headmaster three years ago. He was surprised to see that a Pan still existed. I wasn't ready to go to Hogwarts quite yet, but he did give me the curriculum so I could get the textbooks and study myself. Every summer I'd go to Hogwarts and he'd test my skill. We decided this year would be a good year to join."

"Interesting," Harry mumbled. "I wonder what House you'll be in."

"Does it really matter?"

"Not really, although wherever you end up may effect how others treat you," Harry said carefully.

Peter cocked an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well, there's a lot of prejudice between the Houses, especially between Gryffindor and Slytherin. You do know all the Houses, right?"

"Yeah, the Headmaster told me their names and that you're sorted based upon your character. He wouldn't tell me _how_ we get sorted, though."

Harry smiled. "Well, Gryffindor is for people who are brave and courageous, Slytherin is for people who are cunning and ambitious, Ravenclaw is for people who are academically ambitious, and Hufflepuff is for people who are extremely loyal. Now, people tend to think that only Dark wizards belong in Slytherin, braniacs go in Ravenclaw, brave people go in Gryffindor, and people who don't belong anywhere go in Hufflepuff. That's not quite true. You see, my parents were betrayed by their friend, who was in Gryffindor. He was also a Death Eater. My friend Hermione is also a Gryffindor and she's one hell of a braniac."

"Death Eater?" Peter asked curiously.

"Remember Voldemort?"

"Yeah. That's the wizard that Hook followed. And the one that wanted me to become his Potions Master," Peter replied, his eyebrows scrunched together. "Rather stupid, expecting me to just leave to learn to do something I had no desire to do. Why else would I have left the real world in the first place?"

"Well, nobody calls him that. It's either the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Oh!" Peter exclaimed. "I remember reading about somebody named You-Know-Who. It irritated me because I actually _didn't_ know who. And now I found out that I actually _did_ know who."

Harry chuckled slightly. "Everybody's too scared to say his name; I think its codswallop. You shouldn't be afraid to say a name. But, not everybody has those views. When my parents were still alive, they went up against Voldemort, and they were killed because of it."

"Is that why you had to go to those horrid relatives of yours?" Peter asked softly.

Harry nodded his head. "Well, he tried to kill me when he killed them, but the Killing Curse rebounded somehow and ended up banishing him from his body. I'm known as the Boy-Who-lived, which is a pretty stupid name if you ask me. What'll they call me when I'm old and wrinkly?"

"I remember reading about you in the same book. _The Rise and Fall of the Dark_, I think it was called. Something like that."

"Really? Interesting," Harry murmured. "Anyway, Voldemort's followers are known as Death Eaters. Now, because of what happened last year, Voldemort's back and nobody believes me."

Peter, sensing the sadness in Harry's voice, pulled the smaller boy into a hug. Harry sighed contentedly and returned the hug, flushing slightly. This action was so familiar and he felt his nerves calm down. Peter rubbed soothing circles on the small of his back and he smiled slightly.

"You can tell me about what happened whenever you're comfortable," Peter whispered against Harry's neck, causing him to shiver as the little hairs stood on end.

"Alright. Thank you," Harry whispered back. They stood in a comfortable silence before Harry abruptly pulled away. "Come, you have to meet my friends!"

Peter grinned and allowed Harry to pull him out of the compartment. They walked quickly and Peter let himself be pulled into another compartment filled with two other people.

"Harry, _there_ you are! Where've you been? And who's he?" Hermione asked, looking at Peter curiously.

"Hermione, Ron, I want you to meet my very good friend Peter. Peter, these are my best friends Ron and Hermione. They're prefects this year," Harry introduced happily, remembering the shiny badges Hermione and Ron adored. Peter nodded in greeting to both of the Gryffindors and took a seat next to Harry across from the other two.

"It's nice to meet you, Peter," Hermione said, offering him a smile. "If you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you and Harry meet?"

"Well, we met five years ago. You see, I used to take daily walks around his neighborhood and I'd see him gardening. Eventually, we became friends," Peter explained. Harry's face gave nothing away but on the inside he was surprised at how well Peter had lied. After all, they couldn't really tell people about Neverland.

"Really? Wow! So, why are you coming to Hogwarts this year?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Previously, I've been home-schooled and the Headmaster and I agreed that it'd be best for me to come to Hogwarts this year; to try to make friends with people my age."

"You and the Headmaster? Why not your parents?" Ron asked, his confusion apparent.

"His parents passed away a long time ago. Peter's emancipated," Harry responded before Peter could say anything. Peter flashed him a tiny grin and he returned it.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Hermione said, looking and feeling very guilty.

"It's fine," Peter said quietly. "They died a long time ago." An uncomfortable silence filled the air.

"Hopefully you'll be in Gryffindor," Ron said cheerfully.

"I don't think I'm brave or courageous enough to go into Gryffindor," Peter responded, shrugging.

"Well, neither is Neville but he's with us lions."

"Ron!" Harry cried out, aiming a slight glare at his friend. "That's very rude of you to say, especially since Neville's so nice!"

"Harry's right, Ron," agreed Hermione, frowning disapprovingly at the redhead, who blushed to his neck.

"Besides," Harry continued, ignoring the look Ron had sent him, "it won't really matter what House Peter's in."

"Are you kidding me?" Ron asked incredulously.

Hermione beamed at Harry. "Exactly! Oh, I'm so glad you've matured, Harry!"

"But what if he ends up in Slytherin? You know all Slytherins can't be trusted! They're Death Eaters, for Merlin's sake!"

"You forget Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor and he betrayed my parents to Voldemort," Harry responded quietly, watching Ron flinch at the name and statement. "And what does it matter anyways? Peter was my very first friend and I'm not going to allow something petty like house rivalries get in the way of that."

"Peter would never hurt Harry in any way and he'd also appreciate it if he wasn't talked about as if he isn't here in this compartment," Peter said softly. Ron and Harry blushed in embarrassment.

Heads turned as the door to the compartment opened.

"Well, well, if isn't Potter along with the ever-faithful sidekicks Weasel and the Mudblood," came the taunting voice. "Oh, wait, the Weasel isn't very faithful, is he? When push came to shove, he left wee little Potter all by his lonesome last year."

Ron stood up and glared. "Get out of here before I hex you, Malfoy!"

"Oh, I'm shaking," Malfoy sneered. He noticed Harry's face flushed with anger and a strange boy next to him. "Who are you? I haven't seen you around before."

"You wouldn't have. After all, I am new to Hogwarts," Peter responded, cocking an eyebrow at the arrogant blond.

Malfoy stared at him before he sniffed disdainfully. "Whatever."

"Just leave already," Ron snarled, his wand withdrawn.

"Ron, he isn't worth it," Hermione said, standing up and placing her hand on his shoulder.

"That's right, Weasel, listen to your Mudblood," Malfoy jeered, his lips curled in disgust.

Harry also stood up, his eyes narrowed at the blond. "Malfoy, kindly remove yourself from our compartment or I'll remove you myself."

A blond eyebrow rose elegantly. "Oh really? And how do you expect to do that?"

Harry glared at him furiously before he let out a loud cry, startling the blond. He jumped forward and Malfoy jerked away, leaving the compartment before Harry could pounce on him. Satisfied, Harry stretched his back languidly and flashed a grin to his friends.

"You just planned on scaring him, didn't you?" Hermione asked, her lips tugging into a smile.

Harry chuckled. "Maybe. Now, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go change into my robes. We should be close to Hogwarts by now."

And he was right. No longer than ten minutes after each of the teenagers put on their robes, a magically amplified voice sounded throughout the train, "We will be arriving at Hogwarts in three minutes. Please leave your things on the train as they will be taken to the school after you arrive. Thank you."

When the train reached a full stop, Harry and the others stood in unison. They walked out of the compartment and waited for the hallway to be cleared some before they stepped off the train. Harry frowned slightly as he noticed Hagrid was not calling for the first-years like he had always done. Where was he and who was this lady that looked so familiar?

"Peter Pan!" the lady bellowed, searching the crowd for the boy.

"I think you need to go to the first-years so you can be sorted," Hermione said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh, alright," Peter said, looking at the teacher nervously.

"We'll see you after the sorting, alright?" Harry said, reading Peter's look perfectly.

"Yeah, see you then."

Harry watched as Peter walked away and bit his lip. He really hoped Peter would end up in Gryffindor with him. Then they'd be around each other all the time, like they used to be before they left Neverland. Harry mentally smacked himself. He'd completely forgotten to ask about the Lost Boys! And he still hadn't seen Tinker Bell, Winter Chime, and Summer Chime! Grr!

"Come on, Harry. We have to go or we'll miss a carriage," Hermione said, tugging slightly on his arm.

Harry nearly stumbled in shock when he noticed the carriages that he thought pulled by themselves were actually being pulled by black, horse-like things. How could he not have noticed that before? Harry quietly and cautiously walked over to one of the things and hesitantly reached out to touch it.

"Harry, mate, what are you doing?" Ron asked, looking at Harry as if he'd lost his mind.

"What are they?" Harry continued to stroke the thing, looking at it curiously.

"There's nothing there, Harry," Hermione said, looking at him worriedly.

"Of course there is," a dreamy voice replied, causing Ron to shriek in surprise. They all turned to look at a blonde with long, wavy hair and light blue eyes. "They're called thestrals."

"Thestrals? How come I couldn't see them before? And how come nobody else can see them?"

"I can see them," the blonde said, smiling wistfully at Harry.

"Thestrals can only be seen by somebody who's witnessed death," Hermione said quietly. Harry nearly flinched and immediately stopped petting the thing. "Um, everybody, this is Loony—er, Luna Lovegood."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Luna said, reading a copy of _The Quibbler._ "Have any of you seen the Snarklepot Beetle? They're supposed to bring good luck and fertility."

"Um, no, we haven't," Harry said, looking at her weirdly as he got in the carriage. Just as the carriage was about to take off, Neville quickly jumped in.

"Hi guys," he said nervously. "Do you mind if I stay here? This is the last carriage."

"It's no problem, Neville," Harry replied brightly, offering the shy boy a smile.

Neville smiled, relived. "Thanks, Harry. I was afraid I'd have to swim across the Black Lake to get to school."

Before he knew it, Harry was stepping out of the carriage and walking with his friends to the Great Hall. They sat at the Gryffindor table and watched as everyone started piling into their respective tables. The doors to the Great Hall opened and Professor McGonagall was walking in with a line of nervous first-years trailing behind her. At the very end of the line was Peter. His eyes met Harry's and he winked. Harry flushed slightly and rolled his eyes, trying to stop the smile that wanted to burst forth. His eyes narrowed when he heard the hushed whispers that spread throughout the hall.

"That guy looks too big to be a first-year."

"Wow, he's so cute!"

"Let's hope he's in our house!"

"What's he doing here?"

Frowning, Harry tried to pay attention to the Sorting. Hermione noticed his actions but didn't say anything, opting to be a silent observer instead. Soon, after all the first-years were sorted, it was Peter's turn.

"Pan, Peter!"

Whispers once again broke throughout the hall.

"Did she say _Pan_?"

"I thought the Pans died out a long time ago!"

"He must be the last living Pan left!"

"You think he has a girlfriend?"

The hat was placed on Peter's head and the hall fell into an expectant silence. Peter's expression was one of indifference as he sat on the stool. The sorting went on for at least a total of six minutes—the second longest time to place one person. The first longest time to be sorted belonged to Harry himself with a total of almost fifteen minutes.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Harry's heart plummeted.

A/N: OK, how many of you were expecting Peter to be in Slytherin? It was kind of obvious. (Or painfully so, as my friend informed me.) Sorry, but I needed some conflict to be stirred and I've been planning for him to be in Slytherin since I started _Never_. Tinker Bell, Winter Chime, and Summer Chime will most definitely be in the next chapter. Also, you'll find out what happened to the Lost Boys. **Updates after this will be weekly or bi-weekly. I want to get a lot of chapters pre-written, but I couldn't resist posting this.**

_**So, how do you all feel about a Summer Chime/fairy animagus!Ginny pairing? Thanks to ReflectionsOfReality for this lovely idea.**_


	3. Chapter 3: Decisions and Consequences

Disclaimer: **Harry Potter and co. belong to J.K. Rowling and Peter Pan belongs to J.M. Barrie. No copyright/trademark infringement is intended and no profit is being made from the making of this story.**

Chapter Three – Decisions and Consequences

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," Professor Dumbledore said loudly, causing silence to reign throughout the Great Hall. "As you know, we have a new student among us who is not a first year. Peter Pan will be joining us in his fifth year as an exchange student. He has been home schooled his entire life so please help him during this difficult transition. Now, to those of you who don't know, the Forbidden Forest is just that—forbidden. Please stay away unless you wish to die a most painful death. Many of you have noticed that our beloved friend Hagrid is not here. He will be taking a short leave of absence from the school and Professor Grubbly-Plank will be covering his Care of Magical Creatures classes. Also, we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Please welcome Ms. Dolores Umbridge, who has graciously accepted the position."

A woman with a toad-like face dressed in pink stood up and the students and staff at Hogwarts clapped politely. Dumbledore opened his mouth to continue his speech when Umbridge made a slight coughing noise. He cocked an eyebrow and stepped back, allowing her to step up to the podium. She smiled and faced the student body, missing the slight cringe Dumbledore made.

"Thank you very much for having me as your teacher," she said airily, looking at all of the students. "The Ministry takes great pride in assisting in the education of all of our young wizards. Please know Minister Fudge is doing his best to make sure you all have a proper education. Now, I'm sure it's not your fault that some of your past teachers have been…lacking," she looked at Dumbledore pointedly and smiled, "but please know that this year will be very different."

She giggled and walked to her seat, looking like she had just told the entire school great and wonderful news. In her eyes, she probably did. The Great Hall slowly and hesitantly clapped their hands. Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued his speech.

"Thank you for those…excellent…words, Professor Umbridge," he said with a strained smile. "To the fifth years, this year you shall be taking your OWL exams. To the seventh years, this year you shall be taking your NEWT exams. Please be sure to study as these tests are very important in your academic lives. Thank you and enjoy the feast." He clapped his hands and the feast appeared.

Harry's lips quirked upwards as he heard the first years gasp in surprise. It seemed like it was only yesterday he himself was doing that. His eyes traveled over to the Slytherin table where Peter was seated next to Zabini. His heart beat heavily in his chest and Harry barely prevented himself from frowning. He had wanted Peter to be in Gryffindor so badly.

'_Does it matter? Peter's here, in Hogwarts, with your ungrateful self. You should be happy he's even here,'_ his subconscious goaded.

'_Yes, but what if he doesn't want to be friends anymore? What if he's influenced by the Slytherins into not wanting to be close to Gryffindors?' _Harry thought, looking down at his food so nobody could see the tears that threatened to fall.

'_Hypocrite; you defend Slytherins in front of Ron and when Peter becomes a Slytherin, you automatically assume the others are going to tell him to stay away!'_ the voice said viciously. _'And even if they do, Peter would never listen to them. Never. So stop complaining and be thankful that he's at Hogwarts.'_

Harry's tears dried up as quickly as they had formed and he sat up straight. That annoying subconscious of his was right; Peter would never do something like that to him and he never should have doubted him like that. It was settled; he would still be Peter's friend no matter what…or who.

"Sorry about that, mate," Ron said, chewing on a drumstick.

"What're you sorry for?"

"Well, Pan's a Slytherin," the redhead responded as if that answered everything.

"Congratulations on noticing that," Harry said dryly, a feeling of dread hitting him in the gut.

"Well, we can't be friends with Slytherins. They'll stab us in the back."

"Excuse me?"

The Gryffindor table gradually fell silent, causing the other tables to fall silent as well. Something had to be wrong for the loudest house at Hogwarts to actually shut up.

"You of all people should know why we can't trust the Slytherins," Ron hissed quietly, aware of all the eyes trained on them.

"You met Peter on the train; you should know he's no threat!" Harry hissed back, glaring slightly at his best friend.

"We talked for a couple of minutes! And besides, you haven't seen the bloke in a while. How do you know he hasn't changed?"

"Because I know him! He wouldn't change so drastically in such a short amount of time!"

"Why are you defending him?" Ron practically shouted, standing up and slamming his hands on the table. "For Merlin's sake, Harry, he's in—"

"I'm well aware of what House he's in, Ron," Harry snarled, standing up as well. "And I'm defending him because he's my friend!"

"What about me? I'm your best mate!"

"If you're my best mate, than act like it and support my decision!"

"I can't support a decision I don't agree with! Besides, as your best mate, I have to tell you when you're not making the right decision and not thinking rationally!"

"You would know all about not thinking rationally, wouldn't you?"

The two glared at each other, ignoring the many eyes staring at them.

"I refuse to be friends with him," Ron said quietly, though his statement rang throughout the silent hall.

"I didn't expect you to," Harry responded. "However, don't think that just because _you_ don't approve of him means _I'm_ going to stop being his friend."

"Then, I guess we're not friends anymore, are we?"

"I guess not, Weasley," Harry said. He got out of the bench and walked towards the entrance. He felt everybody's eyes on him but he ignored it all. Right now, all Harry wanted to do was leave.

Peter stood up, ignored some of the Slytherins that protested, and slowly walked to the entrance. He paused and turned to look at Ron, who was still standing up with a shocked expression on his face. Clearly he didn't believe Harry would actually end their friendship over Peter. "I hope you realize what you just lost, Weasley."

"Shut up, you slimy snake! Harry might believe your pitiful act, but I don't!" Ron said angrily.

"In case you didn't know, Weasley, you just helped end your friendship with Harry. You've no right to call him by his first name," Peter replied coldly before leaving the Great Hall.

◦_Peter, what happened?◦_ Tinker Bell said groggily, crawling out of a magically enhanced pant pocket.

◦Well, I found Harry,◦ Peter said softly. All signs of grogginess left her immediately.

◦_What? Why didn't you wake us up? Is he alright?◦_ she asked in a rush. She gave him no chance to respond as she immediately dived into the pocket and woke up Winter and Summer Chime.

◦_You saw Harry, Peter?◦_ Summer Chime asked, looking at him with big, wide eyes.

◦Yes, I did. He goes to this school. And now, because of me, he and his best friend aren't friends anymore,◦ Peter said guiltily.

◦_Explain,◦_ Winter Chime said, sitting calmly on Peter's shoulder. Peter explained all that had happened and the white-haired fairy rubbed his chin in thought. _◦It's not your fault, Peter. Harry chose to stay by your side. His friend just didn't understand the bond you two shared and still share and is, from what you've told me, very prejudiced. I'm sure everything'll work out in the end.◦_

◦Thanks. I'll go find Harry and you all could catch up,◦ Peter said, realizing that Winter Chime was indeed right. The fairies sat on his shoulders and Peter paused as he realized that he had absolutely no idea where Harry could have gone. Whipping out his wand, he mumbled a quick 'Point Me' charm. Following the arrow, Peter found himself in front of a girl's bathroom on the second floor. His brow furrowed. Why would Harry be in a girl's bathroom? He didn't become a pervert, did he? Walking into the bathroom cautiously, Peter found Harry by the sink.

"Harry, are you alright?" Peter asked softly. Harry turned around and gave Peter a watery smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's not like I didn't expect this to happen," Harry said quietly. "Last year, Ron thought I put my name in the Goblet of Fire and turned on me. I love him like a brother, but he lets his irrational jealousy cloud his judgment."

"Harry, if he's like this, then he doesn't deserve to be your best mate."

Harry smiled softly. "Despite his irrational jealousy and his tendency to jump to conclusions, Ron is a great friend."

"I don't understand how you can still think like that about that prat, but fine."

◦_Harry, it's so nice to see you again!◦_ Tinker Bell squealed as she got off of Peter's shoulder and flew over to the boy she had met only five years ago. Summer Chime and Winter Chime immediately flew over to Harry as well.

◦Hey, guys! I missed you all so much!◦ Harry cried, offering his friends a wide smile. His distress was momentarily forgotten as he caught up with his old buddies. ◦How's everything been coming along?◦

◦_It's great, Harry! Um, I have something to ask of you,◦_ Summer Chime said, smiling nervously.

◦Alright; what is it?◦

At Tinker Bell, Winter Chime, and Peter Pan's encouraging looks, the young fairy continued. _◦I'm at the age where I can choose a human to be my companion if I wanted one. I do want a companion and, honestly, you're the only human I know and feel a sort of connection already. So, I was wondering if you could be my companion?◦_

◦Of course I'll be your companion!◦ Harry exclaimed. ◦One question; what does being your companion entail? I mean, do you just hang around me all the time or what?◦

◦_Well,◦_ Winter Chime said, _◦she will be traveling you from now on. You'll have to drink a drop of her blood and a connection between you two will be formed. You'll be able to communicate telepathically and you'll also be connected empathically speaking.◦_

◦So, we'll be able to read each other's minds and feel what the other is feeling?◦ Harry asked.

◦_In a nutshell, yes.◦_

◦Alright, then. Let's do it!◦

Summer Chime grinned widely and held her hand out to Peter, who made a small cut on her hand. Harry was absentmindedly surprised to see that Peter still carried around the pocket knife he used to wear daily in Neverland. The small fairy flew up to Harry and offered him her hand; his tongue darted out to lick a little bit of the blood and he felt a slight tingle. Confused, he looked at Tinker Bell.

◦Why'd I feel a tingle when I got her blood and not when I got yours?◦ he asked.

◦_Summer Chime gave you her blood with the intent of forming a human-fairy bond. When I gave you my blood, I was already bonded to Peter and my intent was only on you understanding fairy language,◦_ Tinker Bell explained, smiling at him widely. _◦That tingle you felt was her blood interacting with yours to try to form that connection.◦_

◦Oh; I didn't know that,◦ Harry murmured. He whipped out his wand and cast a quick 'Tempus' charm. ◦It's getting late. I should probably get back to the common room. Hermione will be worried and I don't want to cause any trouble right at the beginning of the school year.◦

◦_Alright; we'll see you both tomorrow,◦_ Tinker Bell said as she and Winter Chime hugged Summer Chime and Harry.

Peter gave Harry a soft smile and pulled him into a hug. "I'm really glad I'm here with you," he whispered. Harry practically melted.

"So am I," he said with a shy grin. "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Sure thing. Bye."

Together they walked out of the bathroom and parted ways at the staircase. Summer Chime climbed into Harry's pocket after he magically altered it and promptly fell asleep. Harry rubbed the back of his neck as he made the way up to the Gryffindor common room. Hopefully, somebody was already in the common room and could let him in. Reaching the Fat Lady, he gave her a sheepish smile as she looked at him expectantly.

"Er, I don't know the password. Is there anybody in the common room?" he asked quietly. The Fat Lady gave him a condescending look.

"Yes, there is. Be sure you pay attention next time, Mr. Potter," she scolded gently.

He offered her a tiny grin. "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry." He knocked on the side of the portrait and waited until it was opened from the inside. Neville gave him a small smile and let him in.

"Hermione's been looking for you, Harry," the shy boy said quietly. "Almost everybody's in the common room. Ron's been going off."

Harry grimaced. "How badly?"

"Well," Neville hesitated, "he thinks you've got a spell on you. And he keeps going on about Slytherins being slimy snakes."

Harry sighed tiredly. "Thanks for telling me." Before he could advance into the common room, Neville grabbed his arm.

"Harry, I just wanted to let you know that I agree with you. I mean, if you say that Peter can be trusted, then I believe you. Even if he is a Slytherin."

"You've no idea what that means right now, Neville," Harry said gratefully. He smiled widely at Neville who blushed modestly. "I think I'll go talk to Hermione right now."

As soon as he stepped into the common room, Harry immediately wished he'd stayed and talked with Neville for a bit. The talking immediately ceased and all eyes were trained on him as they were in the Great Hall. He gulped inaudibly and walked over to the entrance to the boy's dormitory. Just before he went in, somebody spoke and effectively broke the tense, awkward silence.

"You know, Potter, because of you I almost didn't come back to Hogwarts this year."

Harry turned to see it was Cormac McLaggen, a sixth year, that had spoken. "And how do you propose it was my fault?"

"If you hadn't spread that lie about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named returning, my mum and dad wouldn't have decided not to send me back here!" McLaggen spat. "The _Daily Prophet_ was right; you are an attention-seeking Dark Lord wannabe!"

"You actually believe the _Daily Prophet_? Sweet Merlin, you're thicker than I thought! You think I'm making this up to draw attention to myself? Tell that to Cedric Diggory who was killed so Voldemort could come back!" Harry snapped, too furious to care that nearly everyone flinched at the name.

"How do we know you didn't kill him? After all, you won't share your memories of that night. Maybe you're trying to cover up your tracks," McLaggen retorted.

Harry took a slight step back as if he were just slapped. "Do you really think if I had killed Cedric I would be here in Hogwarts right now?"

"You always were Dumbledore's favorite. Everytime you do something to break the rules or jeopardize Gryffindor's chances at winning both the House and Quidditch cup, you're only given detention or a scolding while others in that position would've been expelled!" Murmurs of agreement spread throughout the common room.

"You fools!" Harry turned to see Hermione defending him. "If Harry hadn't broken the rules, Voldemort would have returned a long time ago!"

"Hermione, don't!" Ron said, trying to stop Hermione from speaking out. The bushy-haired girl broke from his grasp and walked over to stand by Harry.

"Every single one of those times that Harry had broken the rules was to make sure your ungrateful hides were safe!" she burst, glaring at everybody.

"Hermione's right," Seamus said as he stood on Harry's other side. "Harry's not an attention-seeker! He hates it!"

"Didn't your mum also try to keep you from coming back to school, Finnegan?" McLaggen sneered, effectively silencing Seamus. "And have you ever heard of a Potter disliking attention? Yeah, right!"

"Oh, hush your mouth, you ignorant bigot," Hermione scoffed. "You're so quick to judge and yet you've no proof of anything that you're spewing. Did you not hear the Sorting Hat tonight? All of the Houses have to unite in Hogwarts! Voldemort is indeed back and if we're divided in both the school and within our own Houses, we don't stand a chance in this war. Because that's what this is all coming down to—war!"

"You're only saying that because you're Potter's friend, Granger. There is no proof that He-Who-Must—"

"I saw him," Harry interrupted, glaring at McLaggen. "I saw him come back and you know what? He used my blood to do it!" Harry rolled up his sleeve and showed the faint line where Pettigrew had cut him. "Voldemort is back and if you don't believe me, it's your funeral!"

"How do we know you didn't do that to yourself?" McLaggen asked stubbornly, glaring back at Harry who wanted to yank his hair out.

"Oh, just hush it, McLaggen!" Hermione snapped angrily. "You're out of line!"

"_I'm_ out of line?" McLaggen asked incredulously.

"Yes, you are and if one more word about Harry comes out of your mouth, you'll be serving a week in detention with Filch." McLaggen glared at Harry and Hermione before turning around and stalking over to a corner with his friends. Hermione kept her chin up and looked at the common room, "Does anybody else have a problem with Harry?"

Silence.

Harry swallowed thickly and began to make his way up the boy's dormitory, pulling Hermione and motioning for Seamus to come along. Seamus, in turn, motioned for Harry's other loyal friends to follow him. Needless to say, the boy's dormitory wasn't very crowded.

"Thanks for that, Hermione," Harry said quietly. She smiled weakly at him.

"What are friends for? And, Harry, Ron'll come around. You know how he is; he'll see sense," she said quietly, giving him a big hug. It was then that Harry noticed there were other people in the dormitory.

"I'm sorry, Seamus," Harry said apologetically. Seamus offered him a sad smile.

"Don't worry about it, Harry," the Irishman said. "I saw how you came back last year. If you say You-Know-Who is back, then I believe you. My mam will just have to deal with that."

"Yeah, Harry. We all believe you," Neville said, blushing all the while. Harry looked around at Seamus, Dean, Neville, Ginny, and Hermione.

"Thanks guys," he mumbled. "I appreciate it."

"Stop thanking us, Harry," Ginny said happily. "We'll always believe in you." She hugged him and he whole-heartedly returned it.

"Group hug!" Seamus yelled, causing everyone to laugh and shower Harry in hugs.

"Hey, guys, what do you think of the new Defense professor?" Dean asked.

"I'm not sure. She talks to us as if we're unsophisticated," Hermione sniffed. "I sincerely hope she teaches better than she talks. Almost all of the previous DADA teachers we've had were quacks with the exception of Lupin and the fake Moody."

"She looks like a toad," Ginny said as she grimaced. "And have you ever seen any one person wear so much pink?"

Harry laughed as Ginny and the others bar Neville and Hermione continued to make fun of their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. They continued to talk until Ron came upstairs and announced the time. A tense silence filled the air as Ginny and Hermione left the boy's dormitory (after giving Harry a quick hug, of course) and the boys began to dress for sleep. Harry tried to ignore the fact that Ron wasn't looking or speaking to him anymore and harshly reminded himself that it was Weasley now. Crawling into bed, Harry pulled down the drapes and fell into a restless sleep.

A/N: Yay! Third chapter is complete. I hope Ron is in-character enough. My sister hates me for making him stray from Harry, but that's what Ron does. He'll come back…eventually. I won't bash him or anything, but he has no sympathy from me. Ron would be an awesome best mate if he weren't so quick to judge or as prejudiced. Hell, his irrational jealousy of Harry's life gets in the way too many times. But, that's just my opinion. I know Hermione is a little bit _out_ of character, but I think she's more Gryffindor than people give her credit for her. I mean, yeah, she's more brainy but she was placed in the House of the Lions for a reason y'know. Now, I've edited some things in the previous chapter. **The part where Harry didn't know about the Fidelius Charm is a mistake. It's been a while since I read PoA and I assumed Harry was kept in the dark and only told that his parents went into hiding. Rest assured, I've gone back to correct my error and thanks to all that pointed it out! **I've decided that I want to give a Summer Chime/fairy animagus!Ginny a chance. It's an interesting idea, suggested by ReflectionsOfReality and I think it'd be pretty cool to write.

**INTERESTING QUESTIONS ASKED BY _REFLECTIONSOFREALITY_ ANSWERED:**

**_Hypothetically speaking what would happen if you stripped the magic of a being whose entire body is held together by magic alone, like lets say a certain Dark Lord?_**

-If that were to happen, his body would dissolve into nothing. Since it was held up with magic, when that magic was taken away, his soul would not be able to stay in the body and he'd be in the same situation he was in after he tried to kill Harry the first time.

**_So what are the chances that fairy dust is the antithesis to dementors? Considering that it uses happy thoughts to generate its effects like a patronus uses happy memories? Could that be why the dementor was no where near as aggressive as it seemed in cannon? I mean with it you could have follow on effects in the plot line like them being less effective in 3rd year while making Harry's patronus easier to cast._**

-You know, you're the first one to figure that out. I figured that despite Harry leaving Neverland, he was still exposed to fairy dust and he still had Tink's blood in him. Thus, the dementor was less agressive and was trying to figure out why exactly the human in front of him was different. I wouldn't say dementors and fairies are arch enemies or something, but they just avoid each other. If a dementor were to attack a fairy, which is _highly_ unlikely since they live in different realms, the fairy wouldn't feel the effects at all.

**_For some reason I can see a Neverland exposed Harry being a lot wilder than cannon, a little more innocent and a little more fearless at the same time. Stronger imagination with a lot more creativity when it comes to fun and interesting things._**

-That probably would be the case had he not been exposed to Voldemort the following years after he left. He might have been more ready and excited to take on the world after having such a great time in Neverland, but after he first entered Hogwarts and Snape was out to get him and all the other things happening, he mellowed out. He was forced to shed a bit of innocence that he had and open his eyes to the cruel realities of the world that both Quirrel and Voldemort helped him see.

**_Then there are other effects like Harry knowing that Gillyweed exists (even though it might not be by its name but its appearance) and I wonder if he would try other beings' blood to learn the language, can you imagine him trying to speak with Norbert in first year by sampling his blood? Even better if it works and Harry is able to talk to dragons for the 1st task instead of just messing around with his broom. And how close to fairies are Cornish pixies? Would it be like a regional accent? It would be quite different if Harry was caught speak to multiple species instead of just snakes in second year._**

-Yes, he was aware of Gillyweed even though it wasn't by its name. I suppose he would try dragon's blood and see if he could talk to dragon's although I think spending some time with Hermione would have him research the effects of it first instead of jumping straight into it like he normally would. And also, if you could only drink a bit of blood to speak to an animal, then Slytherins would probably try drinking snake blood to speak Parseltongue, haha. As for the relations between Cornish pixies and fairies, I'd say they're like cousins. And, due to the different realms they were raised in, that would make them have a different language altogether. It would be like comparing French to English.

**_Could you write a bonus chapter to Never with Peter checking up on him?_**

-I plan on writing a couple of side one-shots when I'm finished with this one.

Keep the questions coming! Thanks for all the fabulous reviews so far. The next update should be in a week or two.


	4. Chapter 4: A Divided House

Disclaimer: **Harry Potter and co. belong to J.K. Rowling and Peter Pan belongs to J.M. Barrie. No copyright/trademark infringement is intended and no profit is being made from the making of this story.**

Chapter Four - A Divided House

Harry yawned as he stumbled downstairs; he was so tired. Despite going to bed fairly early, his body was barely able to get a decent night's sleep. If he wasn't having nightmares about Peter deciding to not be his friend anymore, he was having rather disturbing dreams. He didn't understand them, but they were the same type of dreams he had had almost all of last year. Harry bit his lip; he knew he should really tell someone of these dreams. After all, they could be very important. So far, the only thing Harry could really make out was a dark room and voices whispering to each other. Nodding to himself, Harry decided to write a letter to Sirius before the day was over.

"Hiya Harry," Hermione chirped as she closed a rather thick book. Harry only grunted, earning a laugh from his best friend. "Somebody's not a morning person."

"Somebody obviously had too many cups of coffee," Harry retorted, plopping into the seat next to Hermione. "I'm so tired."

"Aw, poor you," Hermione teased, grinning. Her brown eyes were sparkling with silent laughter and Harry glowered at her. He opened his mouth to say something when she stopped grinning and her body became slightly tensed. Turning around, Harry mentally cursed to see Ron. The red-head's lips were pulled into a firm line as he stared long and hard at both Harry and Hermione. He looked to be internally struggling with something, but soon decided on just leaving the common room. The awkward and tense silence was still in the air when he left and Harry looked at Hermione from the corner of his eyes. She was worrying her bottom lip and glancing nervously at the portrait where the youngest Weasley male had exited.

"Hermione, I know you hate having to choose between us," Harry started softly. "I think you should go with Ro–Weasley. He'll need you more than I do." To his surprise, Hermione whacked him upside the head.

"You prat, don't you dare go saying that! My standing beside you and supporting your decision has nothing to do with whether or not you or Ronald will need me more. I'm here with you because I want to be and because as my friend, you'll always have my support. And you know Ronald; once he's had time to calm down and think things over rationally, he'll come back. Then everything will be all right again," Hermione said, sounding firm at the beginning of her statement and almost whispering the end.

Harry stared at her before allowing a small grin to come across his face. He opened his arms and enveloped her in a hug, "Thank you; this means a lot to me."

Hermione returned his hug. "No need to thank me, Harry. I'm sure if Ronald hadn't just jumped the gun, he would be right here as well."

They were silent for a few moments before a cough interrupted them and killed the moment. Harry and Hermione turned around and noticed Seamus and Dean standing near the staircase to the boys' dormitories, looking amused.

"Hey there mate, you two need a room?" the Irishman said after a moment with a cocked eyebrow.

Harry rolled his eyes and let go of Hermione. "You're such a mood killer, Seamus," he snorted. "You ready?"

"We wouldn't be here otherwise," Dean replied. "Neville's almost done getting dressed."

"Good; I'll go see if Ginny's going to accompany us to breakfast," Hermione said, squeezing Harry's shoulder before disappearing up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

Seamus swaggered over to Harry. "So, Harry, mate, what was that we walked in on?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

Harry gave him a suspicious look. "It's called a hug, Seamus. I'm sure you've heard of it, yeah?"

Seamus sighed heavily. "I meant, what was that private moment between you and Hermione? It looked like there was more than friendship between the two of you."

"What?!" Harry yelped, looking at the Irishman in shock. "Seamus, did you hit your head or something? Hermione is, and will only ever be, one of my best friends and she's like my sister! You suggesting something like that is incestuous and _not _for me. Besides, it's so obvious that her and Ro–Weasley like each other!"

Seamus grinned wickedly. "I know; that's why I wanted to know if you liked her as anything more than that. Love triangles are just so interesting."

Dean, who had remained silent, rolled his eyes and interrupted their oh-so-important conversation. "Seamus, leave the poor bloke alone. And stop smiling like that; you'll give Neville a scare."

Seamus looked at the shy boy, who was next to Dean with a blush on his face. "Oh, sorry Neville. Didn't see you there."

"That's because you were busy interrogating Harry," Hermione said as she and Ginny walked down the stairs. The bushy-haired prefect walked towards the couch, shouldered her bag, and smiled at the small group. "Let's go."

Harry laughed as they made their way towards the Great Hall. Seamus was making fun of Hermione behind her back and she kept turning around and looking at him suspiciously. The childishness of the situation made him feel a lot better, as if he were still in Neverland with Peter. Harry frowned slightly; he knew he could trust his friends, especially since they had basically forsaken their other friends just to stand by his side, but could he really tell them about his adventure in Neverland? It might help them understand why he decided he would always stay by Peter's side, but what if they accidentally slipped while talking to someone?

"Don't think so hard, Harry," Dean said quietly. "You might get a tumor or something."

"Huh?"

Seamus chortled loudly and clapped him on the back. "He means, mate, you looked like you were concentrating so hard, it looked like it hurt."

Harry rolled his eyes and gave Seamus a playful shove. "Prat," he murmured, walking faster to catch up to Hermione. He ignored Seamus and Dean exchanging chuckles and readied himself as the grand doors to the Great Hall started coming closer and closer. Ginny came up beside him, now out of her sleepy stupor, and attached her arm to his shoulder. Harry couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that she was almost his height.

"Don't worry about a thing, Harry," Ginny said cheerfully. "We'll be right here beside you and if anybody has a problem with that, they'll have to answer to my Bat Boogey Hex!"

Harry smiled nervously at the smirk she wore on her face–damn, she'd make the Slytherins proud–and swallowed inaudibly. The feeling of anxiety at the pit of his stomach grew and he couldn't help but think back on what his friends said and how normal they were acting and just feel more comfortable and at ease. He relaxed a bit more and opened the doors to the Great Hall.

Upon their entry, the entire Great Hall fell silent. Harry felt better when he ignored their voices and continued to concentrate on the words of encouragement he had heard both moments ago and last night. To his surprise, the Gryffindor table was divided into three sections. One third of his House was glaring at him, another was looking at the table, and the last third was smiling at him. Harry gathered the Gryffindors got into groups based on whether or not they supported, hated, or were neutral towards him.

His heart panged when he noticed Ro–Weasley sitting in the neutral part. He was the only one not looking at the table, but instead he was staring at the Slytherins. Harry glanced at the table and realized that Peter wasn't at breakfast yet. That made sense, considering the fact that classes didn't really start until half an hour later. The brunet bit his lip, wondering if Peter was just sleeping on or if his classmates actually did something to him.

Sitting at the side of the table that welcomed him with open arms, Harry resisted the urge to just bang his head on the hard surface. Hermione refused to look at their stray friend and Harry didn't blame her. She had liked the redhead since they were in First Year, he suspected. A part of him felt guilty for being the cause of their rift while another part viciously reminded him that it was the Weasley that had strayed and Hermione that decided to remain with him.

Harry cocked an eyebrow as Hermione loaded his plate for him. "What're you doing?" he asked curiously.

"You need to eat something," she replied, her lips pulled in a thin line. "You're incredibly skinny since you came back this summer and while Mrs. Weasley isn't around to help you get some meat on your bones, I most definitely am. Now, finish your breakfast. If you eat, you'll be more aware of your surroundings and probably won't fall asleep in History of Magic, if we have it today."

"Hermione, you're asking for a miracle to happen," Dean said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I don't see how you can stay up while Professor Binns just goes on and on about Goblin Wars in that awful, dead tone of his."

"Haha, _dead_ tone," Seamus murmured, chuckling slightly.

"It doesn't take much to amuse you, does it?" Harry asked as he took a bite out of sausage, successfully turning the frown on Hermione's face upside down.

She beamed at him before eating her own food, her brown eyes looking up as Professor McGonagall started to pass the time tables. The Transfigurations Professor looked stricter than usual.

"There is a meeting to be held in the Gryffindor common room tonight after dinner. Attendance is mandatory for all Gryffindors," she said as she passed them their time tables, her lips pursed.

Hermione frowned slightly. "Is something wrong, Professor McGonagall?"

McGonagall's lips were pressed so tightly it looked like she didn't have any. "This is a delicate manner to be discussed within Gryffindor walls, Miss Granger," the Transfigurations Professor said sternly. "However, I'd like to speak with both you and Mr. Potter during lunch, if I may."

"Of course, Professor," Hermione said, elbowing Harry lightly so he could nod as well.

"Excellent." Professor McGonagall nodded her head and left to go hand out the rest of the time tables. Harry was a little worried that Peter still hadn't come to breakfast; class would start in fifteen minutes. His eyes widened slightly as he remembered Summer Chime was in his pocket.

Summer Chime, do you have a connection with Winter Chime? Harry asked through the mental connection. He was a little nervous that the connection wouldn't work since it was brand new and he hadn't had a chance to test it out, yet.

Summer Chime, who was lounging around in his pocket, responded, _◦Yes. All fairies related to each other automatically have a connection established. What do you want me to tell him?◦_

Can you ask him if Peter's alright? I can't help but feel like something happened to him, Harry confessed, chewing his eggs nervously. When Summer Chime didn't respond, he assumed she was doing as he asked.

_◦Winter Chime says they can't wake Peter up at all,◦_ Summer Chime said moments later, sounding worried. Harry resisted the urge to run out of the Great Hall and to the Slytherin common room. He stood up slowly and shouldered his bag.

"Where're you going, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking at him curiously.

"I have to run to the loo quickly, but I'll be back in time for class," Harry replied, satisfying the brainy Gryffindor. He walked out of the Great Hall normally and as soon as the doors closed, Harry took off in a sprint towards the Slytherin common room. He paused as he reached the dungeons and bit his lip, trying to remember the way to the Slytherin common room he and Ron had gone in second year under their Polyjuice fiasco. Harry smiled as he noticed the brick wall and frowned when he realized he didn't know the password.

◦Summer Chime, can you ask Winter Chime if he knows the password?◦ he asked, hiding behind a suit of armor in case anybody decided to show up.

_◦He says it's **venemum**,◦_ Summer Chime replied.

Harry bit his lip and cast a disillusionment charm before walking to the brick wall and whispering the password. He was relieved when he could see nobody in the common room and made his way towards what he hoped was the boys' dormitories. Harry smiled in relief when the staircase didn't turn into a slide–at least, that's what happened in the Gryffindor common room when boys tried to go to the girls' dormitories–and opened the door. Harry's eyes widened and he ran over to the bed where Peter was sleeping. Tinker Bell and Winter Chime were trying to wake him up, but nothing seemed to be working. Not even fairy magic could awaken the sleeping teen.

What happened? Harry cried, shaking Peter's shoulders in an attempt to wake him up.

_◦We think a classmate of his must've cast a spell on him or something,◦_ Tinker Bell replied, frowning as she whacked the side of Peter's cheek as hard as she could.

Then how come you didn't ask Summer Chime to tell somebody or something? Harry asked as he pointed his wand at Peter.

_◦We would've, but we think his classmate cast the spell while we were still in Peter's pocket. Now, wizard magic doesn't work the same on humans as it does magical creatures. Because of that, we were able to wake up earlier than Peter. I'm sure unless someone reverses the spell, Peter will sleep until whoever cast the spell on him wants him to wake up,◦_ Winter Chime explained.

Harry cast a counter sleep charm and watched with baited breath as Peter began to stir and then slowly wake up. He glanced at the clock and quickly went into the trunk at the foot of Peter's bed to pull out a uniform. Peter was still disoriented and looked incredibly confused. Summer Chime, who had crawled out of his pocket when he came into the dormitory, flew in front of Peter's face.

"Harry? What're you doing here?" Peter asked groggily.

"Get up, Peter. We have five minutes before class starts," Harry said, throwing Peter the uniform.

"Huh? But I set my alarm for 7:00 this morning," Peter said, hopping out of bed. He swerved a bit, but shook his head to clear the dizziness he felt before he started to get dressed. Harry turned around to give him some privacy.

"We think someone put you under a sleep charm, but there's no time for that! Are you decent?" Harry asked, blushing as he recalled the time when Peter saved him from drowning while he was bathing. His cheeks grew hotter as he remembered Peter saying the same exact thing.

"Yeah." Harry turned around and his breath caught in his throat. Peter looked even better than he did yesterday. His hair was all over the place, his eyes were half-lidded, the first button to his shirt was undone, and he didn't have his socks or shoes on yet. Swallowing thickly, Harry hurriedly went over to Peter and made quick work of putting his Slytherin tie on. Harry then adjusted Peter's shirt, ignoring the way his heart was hammering when he saw that little bit of skin exposed, and tossed Peter his shoes and some socks. Peter hurriedly put them on, oblivious towards Harry's reactions, and got his bag.

"Crap, I don't know my classes," Peter grumbled, rubbing his eyes to try and rid the sleepiness he felt.

"We have Potions," Harry replied impatiently, pulling Peter out of the dormitory and out of the Snake's pit.

"How do you know?" Peter asked, following Harry.

"Gryffindors and Slytherins are always paired for double Potions," was the explanation. "Dumbledore does it to promote House unity, but that never works. Besides, years have classes with people from the same year. Now, if I'm going to a fifth year Potions class with fifth year Slytherins, don't you think you'll be included in that category?"

Peter chuckled. "Yes, I believe I do. Come on; class is going to start in exactly a minute and a half."

They sprinted towards the Potions doors and made it just before Professor Snape did. The Potions Professor attempted to glare a hole through Harry's head, but that never worked. Harry and Peter took the last seats available–side by side at the very front of the classroom. Harry winked at Hermione to ease her worried and confused expression. She gave him a look that told him he would be explaining his almost tardiness to her after class. Seamus waggled his eyebrows at Harry, earning him a cocked eyebrow. Harry sighed as he sank into his seat, shaking his head. He had a feeling he would never fully understand whatever was going on inside of Seamus' head.

"As I'm sure most of you are well aware of, you will all be taking the O.W.L. exams this year. For most of you, this year will be your last year in this class as I do not accept a letter grade lower than an 'O' into my N.E.W.T. classes. Today we would have been mixing the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and to soothe agitation. It is a potion that often comes up on the O.W.L. exams, however, as I have very little faith in most of you to not blow up my classroom or yourselves," he paused and stared at Neville and Harry, "we will be doing a simpler, less complicated potion first. I will choose the partners for this lesson. Longbottom, Pan; Parkinson, Granger; Weasley, Zabini; Crabbe, Goyle; Finnegan, Thomas; Potter, Malfoy. The instructions are on the board; begin!"

Harry gave Peter an apologetic look before walking over to Malfoy's table. He dropped into the empty seat beside the blond, thankful that the snarky Slytherin had yet to open his mouth. Harry glanced at the board and bit the inside of his cheek; the instructions were fairly simple. He sighed inaudibly.

"Potter, don't just stand there. Go get the ingredients," Malfoy said coldly, eyeing Harry with contempt.

Harry rolled his eyes although he was inwardly glad Malfoy was the same; for a moment, he was sure Malfoy had been hexed or something. "Whatever, Malfoy," he hissed back, getting out of his seat to go to the cupboard. He gathered the necessary ingredients and laid them out on the desk. Looking up at the board once more, Harry got prepared to dice the slugs when Malfoy's hand shot out to grab his.

"What're you doing, Potter?" the blond asked agitatedly.

"I'm dicing the slugs," Harry responded, looking at Malfoy weirdly. "Let go." Harry jerked his wrist out of Malfoy's grip, scowling at the blond.

"Read the instructions correctly, you blind git! It says to _slice _the slugs," Malfoy hissed, glaring at Harry. "I won't have you screwing up the potion before we start. Tell me, what does the next line say?"

"Merlin, Malfoy, paranoid much?" Malfoy continued to stare at Harry, unrelenting. "Fine; it says add the slugs and three bat wings to the potion before stirring six times counterclockwise, then allow to simmer. Satisfied?"

Malfoy ignored Harry and returned to preparing the fire. "Hurry it up with those slugs, Potter. We don't want to be behind everybody else; it's bad enough that our potion may be below par. I may be an excellent brewer, but paired with you, even I cannot perform such miracles."

Harry gritted his teeth; he almost wished Malfoy _had _been hexed. Trying to calm his rapidly growing anger, Harry gradually emptied his mind of everything other than focusing on the task. He relaxed and pre-chopped the necessary ingredients before helping Malfoy add them in. Malfoy glared at him suspiciously, as if expecting Harry to sabotage the potion only so that he could also get a failing grade. Harry rolled his eyes; he wasn't that stupid. Snape would probably blame it all on Harry, even if Harry wasn't at fault, and praise Malfoy for having to put up with his horrible brewing skills.

When they were finished with their potion, Harry was surprised to see that the color was just right, if not a shade or two off. He looked around to see if anybody else had completed their potion. From what he could tell, Hermione and Parkinson finished their potion around the same time as he and Malfoy did. Peter was whispering to Neville about something and Harry couldn't help but feel sorry for Peter. Neville was a great friend, but his potion skills were non-existent. Snape probably paired them together to either fail Peter subtly for sticking up for Harry last night or to test Peter's potion skills without being obvious about it. Harry guessed it was a mix of the two.

"Time's up," Professor Snape's cold voice echoed in the silent room. "Bottle your potion and present it."

Harry was thankful that Malfoy decided to be the one to bottle it and take it up front to Snape–probably to make sure Harry didn't drop it or do anything to get points docked. Not even a second after the last group handed in their potion, the bell rang, signifying the end of class. Harry grabbed shouldered his bag and quickly walked out of the classroom. He worried his lower lip as he looked at his time table; he was anxious to see how Defense Against the Dark Arts would turn out, but he didn't have the class until tomorrow. With a sigh, he stuffed the time table into his bag and waited outside of the Potions classroom. When Peter came out, he smiled and walked over to Harry.

"Hey, thanks for waiting. You didn't have to," Peter said, grinning widely.

"I know, but I wanted to," Harry replied, a light flush on his cheeks.

"Thanks for earlier. I would've been toast if I missed Snape's class."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry that happened to you."

Peter frowned. "You say it as if it's your fault."

"Well, it probably is. The Slytherins hate me," Harry replied, looking at the ground. He couldn't help it; he just felt so damn guilty.

"Look, Harry, I don't give two shits of a rat's arse about what the Slytherins think. Now, instead of feeling bad about it, I want to know if you'll help me with something," Peter said, a slow smirk spreading across his lips.

Harry looked at him curiously. "Help with what?"

"Well, if the Slytherins want to play this game, so can I. Now, I was thinking of returning the favor."

Harry offered Peter a small grin. "How?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead. I was thinking of pranking them. You know, to show them that they shouldn't mess with me," Peter replied thoughtfully. "Are you going to help me?"

Harry paused as his grin started to get wider. He felt a lot more relaxed with Peter here and he couldn't help but feel like agreeing with whatever Peter was planning on doing. Thinking, Harry realized that pranking the Slytherins wouldn't be so bad. After all, he could pay them back for all the shit they've done to him over the years as well as pay them back for what they did to Peter _and _make his father proud. He had a legacy to live up to, after all. Sirius will, undoubtedly, cheer him on and even offer to teach him some great pranks in the name of pranking Slytherins.

"Alright, Peter. I'll be more than happy to assist you in whatever it is that you're doing," Harry said with a wide smile. Peter returned it ten-fold, ignoring his rapidly beating heart.

"Want to meet me in the library after dinner?"

"Yeah, sure."

The warning bell rang, causing the two of them to jump.

"I'll see you later then," Peter called as he walked in a different direction. Harry nodded his head.

"Count on it," he called back before running to the Transfigurations room. He made it just before the bell rang and took his seat beside Hermione. Reaching into his bag to grab out his text book, Harry whispered to her, "Don't worry; I'll explain everything during lunch."

Hermione frowned, knowing she had been so predictable. Sniffing, she grabbed out parchment and started to take down notes on the welcome back speech Professor McGonagall was making. Lunch came painfully slowly. Harry had almost fallen asleep in class; had it not been for Hermione and her stomping on his foot, his textbook would've became a very hard pillow. Stretching, Harry smiled as the bell rang. Packing up his things, he explained all that had happened in a whisper to Hermione. He knew she would disapprove his agreeing to prank the Slytherins with Peter so he left that little tidbit of information out. The duo waited until the classroom had cleared before walking up to Professor McGonagall.

"What was it that you wanted to talk about, Professor?" Hermione asked, looking at the teacher curiously.

"Let me be the first to congratulate you for seeing past House rivalries, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said after a few moments of silence. "Now, I assume that is why my House is divided, yes?"

Harry and Hermione nodded. "Yes, Professor," they chorused softly.

"That is the purpose for the meeting in the common room tonight. I will not have that taking place within my House. Not with the events of last year and certainly not with the message in the Sorting Hat's song," Professor McGonagall said solemnly. "That is all I wished to tell you."

Harry and Hermione took their leave. "Yes, Professor."

"Oh, and Mr. Potter? Ms. Granger?" They turned around. "Ten points to Gryffindor each–for having the bravery to befriend a Slytherin and for having the courage to defend your decision." Professor McGonagall's thin lips widened into the briefest of smiles before she offered them a wink.

Harry and Hermione left the Transfigurations room in a stunned silence. "What just happened?" Harry asked, looking dazed and confused.

"She was telling you, Harry, that she believed in you," Hermione responded softly, grinning slightly.

Harry looked at her. "You think so?"

"Well, duh! Honestly, Harry, for somebody who's brighter than average, you're incredibly dense."

"Hey!"

A/N: I'm incredibly sorry for the delay. Just so that you know I wasn't procrastinating or anything, **I recently went to the hospital**. The reason as to why is incredibly personal, so all I'll tell you is that I was in excruciating pain. It hurt to walk, use the bathroom, and eventually even laying down caused me pain. I decided to go the hospital and it's a good thing I did; had I waited any longer, I would've been royally screwed. Now, in order to remove my problem, they had to cut me. So, they gave me 800 mg of Ibuprofen, two oxycodon tablets, and a shit load of anesthesia. (Needless to say, I was still high when I came home.) Surprisingly, the oxycodon barely did anything to alleviate my pain. It kicked in two hours later, the stupid thing. I think the medicine they gave me for pain gives me an allergic reaction, which explains why after ingesting the stupid pill, I had a burning sensation near my heart and my esophagus. (Stupid me, I thought it was just heartburn.) So, it's going to take me four weeks to heal. I'm not in pain any more, so I'll be working on this story more often.

Oh, and my beta is back so as soon as he's complete with beta-ing my other chapters, I'll post the beta-ed versions. Please review and let me know what you think.

**EDIT:** FanFiction dot net is deleting some of the formatting for my story. Whenever the document thing stops being a bitch, I'll correct whatever issue it has.


	5. Chapter 5: Vision

Disclaimer: **Harry Potter and co. belong to J.K. Rowling and Peter Pan belongs to J.M. Barrie. No copyright/trademark infringement is intended and no profit is being made from the making of this story.**

Chapter Five - Vision

**Dear Snuffles,**

**Everything's great so far. Eh, scratch that. Everything **_**class-wise **_**is going great. Hermione's making sure I do my homework on time and classes are alright so far. I have a few problems, though. You see, on the ride to Hogwarts, I saw my friend Peter. I met him before I went to Hogwarts and he's really nice. We caught up and he met Ron and Hermione. It seemed like everything was going to be great, but of course nothing in my life can ever be simple. Why do I say this?**

**Peter got sorted into Slytherin.**

**I don't mind, really. Peter's a great friend and I feel really comfortable around him. The thing is, Ron...well, you know how he is. He refused to be friends with Peter, but when I decided to stay friends with him, he practically exploded. We aren't friends anymore and I have to call him Weasley now. I don't want to fight or be against him; it hurts. He was the first person to accept me in the Wizarding world and I love him like a brother. Why does he have to be so prejudice? I mean, it's not like Peter's evil or anything. And not all Slytherins are evil, you know? Pettigrew wasn't a Slytherin and he still betrayed my parents to Voldey and his stupid Corpse Munchers.**

**We ended up breaking off out friendship in front of everybody in the Great Hall and Peter came after me after I stormed out. Ginny, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, and Dean are still with me, though. Now, because Peter's friends with me, the other Slytherins are bound to pick on him. Earlier today, they cast a sleep charm on him and he was almost late for Potions. That reminds me, do you have any great pranks you'd like to share? I've decided to help Peter get back at them for being such bastards. We met tonight after dinner to talk about what we should do, but we wanted to see if you know any good ones first. And it's about time Hogwarts is reminded of the mayhem caused by the Marauders, don't you think? Maybe if this goes well, I'll continue to prank them.**

**Love,**

**Harry**

**P.S. I've been having **_**those **_**dreams again. Do you have any idea why? I can't make out anything yet, but I'm normally in a dark room and there's voices whispering something. I don't know what about, though. And, I hate to sound like Hermione, but I'll have to go to the library and research a few things.**

Harry re-read the letter before walking over to Hedwig. He gave her a few owl treats and some water before tying the letter to her foot. Hedwig gave a soft hoot before she spread her wings and flew out of the window; Harry watched as her form gradually became smaller and smaller until he could no longer see her. Sighing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose and turned around to go back to his bed. Pausing abruptly, Harry tensed and noticed his ex-best mate staring at him oddly.

"Something you want?" he asked softly, his voice almost inaudibly.

The youngest Weasley male opened his mouth and closed it several times before he finally found his voice. "What's up with you and Hermione?"

Harry blinked at the tight voice and the subtle clenches of the red-heads fists. _'That's right, they fancy each other,'_ he thought to himself.

"Why do you want to know?" Harry asked as he crossed his arms, glaring slightly at the other teen.

Weasley glared furiously back at Harry. "Bloody hell, you know why I want to know you prat!" he hissed quietly.

Harry shook his head sadly. "I know we're not friends anymore, but I thought you still knew me enough to know that I wouldn't do something like that," Harry said softly, sighing as he dropped his arms and rubbed his temples. Weasley's expression eased up slightly as he stared at Harry. It was a long time before either of them did anything. Unable to put up with the tense atmosphere anymore, Harry crawled into bed and shut the drapes. He buried his face into his pillow and tried to think of happy thoughts. Eventually, his breathing labored and he drifted into sleep. Unfortunately, his dreams were far from peaceful, happy ones.

"_I do not tolerate failure, Crabbe," a voice hissed in the darkness. Harry froze slightly as he recognized Voldemort's slippery, vile voice._

"_I'm sorry, Master," was the reply. Harry blinked his eyes as he noticed a massive, cloaked bulk shiver almost violently._

"_No excuses and no apologies! _Crucio_!_"

_To Harry's surprise, he felt the effects of the curse. Liquid magma coursed through his veins as he collapsed onto the ground, flailing and screaming in agony. Crabbe was not much better and a wet spot appeared in the front of his trousers. Surrounding Death Eaters, cloaked and unrecognizable in the dark, remained silent. As the curse was lifted, Harry panted heavily and curled into himself, trying desperately to stop shivering as he absentmindedly realized nobody could see him. Voldemort started to speak again and Harry had to concentrate on his voice in order to understand what he was saying._

"_Do not fail me again, Crabbe," he hissed. "Get back in line."_

_The man picked himself up, shivering violently as he bowed lowly and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes while babbling his thanks to his Master for being so lenient with his unworthy self. Crabbe soon blended in with the other Death Eaters; they were all silent, awaiting the next words of their Master._

"_Malfoy, report," Voldemort ordered._

_Harry watched as the platinum blond bowed lowly and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes in disgust. "My Lord, everything is set up accordingly. Fudge chooses to ignore your glorious return and believes everything is the doing of Sirius Black. The next raid will be blamed on him and the public will be none-the-wiser. Whilst they remain unaware and ignorant of our activities, we will be able to not only rid our world of Muggle scum, we should also be able to discover Azkaban's weakness."_

_Voldemort appeared to be thoughtful. "You've done well, Lucius," he murmured. "Tell me, what has your son to say about Potter?"_

_Harry's eyes widened; of course Malfoy Jr. would tell his father all that has happened so far! He slapped his forehead; how could he have been so careless? How could he just ignore the fact that the Slytherin children were basically their parents' eyes and ear in Hogwarts? How could he have been so stupid to publicly declare himself Peter's friend and put him in further danger?_

"_Peter Pan has come to Hogwarts," Malfoy said. Noises of shock rippled through the Death Eaters, but they all immediately silenced when Voldemort glared at them._

"_Peter Pan? Not possible; Black took care of him. And I do believe I told you to tell me of Potter. _Crucio_!" Voldemort glared angrily at the now wailing Malfoy. Harry bit his lip to withhold his own screams of pain; the fire coursing through his veins returned. Thinking quickly, Harry tried desperately to clear his mind. Maybe, if his mind was clear, he wouldn't feel anything. To his surprise, it worked. As he calmed his breathing and focused on clearing his mind, the searing pain in his veins ceased to exist and he was able to finally process what Voldemort had said. Black? As in a relative or something to Sirius? _

"_I'm sorry, my Lord, but my son insists that a 'Peter Pan' has come to Hogwarts. He's been sorted in Slytherin and has publicly declared to be _friends _with Potter," Malfoy gasped out, managing to spit out the word 'friends' like it was a disease in his condition. Voldemort frowned slightly, his hand coming to stroke the top of Nagini's head. The snake, who had just slithered in, whispered some things in his ear. Harry froze upon hearing them, able to understand every single word._

"_**Master, I detect a spiritual presence here,**__" Nagini hissed, wrapping herself around Voldemort almost lovingly._

"_**Spiritual presence? Who's?**__" Voldemort hissed back as his red, snake-like eyes scanned the room._

"_**No, Master, It is somewhat familiar; I've felt the same presence last year before your body was returned,**__" was the reply._

_Harry's eyes widened in terror. That's right; last year when he started having those dreams, Nagini was there. How the hell could the damn snake feel spiritual presences? And how'd he even get here? Thankfully, Harry felt himself starting to stir awake. Slowly, everything became muddled and distorted. As the dream world disappeared, Harry could've sworn he heard Voldemort hiss something akin to, "Potter?"_

Harry jumped awake, gasping and panting as if he had run a marathon. His body was still shaking from the aftershocks of the two _Crucio_'s he suffered, but he ignored it. Jerking his wand out from under the pillow, Harry cast a quick Tempus charm. It was only 3:30 a.m. He bit his lip; he remembered all that had happened in the dream and it all seemed really important. Harry wondered if he should tell Dumbledore now. It was, after all, the wee hours of the morning. Then again, if the information he obtained from the dream was incredibly important, it had to be worth it. Mind made up, Harry tiptoed out of bed. He was drenched in sweat, but that didn't matter right now. Harry gently eased the sleeping Summer Chime into his pocket, not wanting to leave her and have somebody find her, and walked out of the dormitory. The common room was deserted, like he had expected, and he quietly snuck out. The Fat Lady only stirred slightly as he closed her portrait before she fell into a deeper slumber.

As Harry walked towards Dumbledore's office, he couldn't help but feel like somebody was coming. Making his strides longer and faster, Harry reached the Headmaster's office in no time. It took no longer than two minutes to guess the password (honestly, Ice Mice?) and he quickly walked up the stairs. Becoming increasingly paranoid, Harry felt as if the gargoyle was staring at him. He hurriedly walked over to the door of the Headmaster's office when he paused, hearing voices.

"I'm telling you, sir, Harry's in trouble or something! We have to go get him!" Harry stiffened slightly at Peter's voice.

"Headmaster, surely the boy has hit his head. Potter's probably sleeping, like everybody else is," Snape's agitated voice sounded.

"How would you know if Mr. Potter is in trouble, Mr. Pan?" McGonagall asked sternly. The brunet could imagine she was looking down her nose at Peter.

"I don't know how I know; I just know!" Peter replied, annoyed.

Harry, having heard enough, was about to knock on the door when Dumbledore called, "Come in, Harry."

Harry opened the door and stepped inside the office. Dumbledore was seated at his desk while Snape had a worried Peter by the elbow. McGonagall was beside the Headmaster, obviously surprised that Harry had come to the office so early in the morning. Snape scowled at the Boy-Who-Lived, although Harry thought he was just trying to mask any surprise he would have felt. Oh, wait, Snape can't feel anything.

"I'm sorry to come so early, Professor, but I didn't think this could wait," Harry said softly. Peter gave him a worried look and Harry didn't blame him; he was probably a fright. He was still drenched in sweat and he shivered as the cool air hit his damp skin, his hair was probably plastered to his forehead, and he had a slight limp as he walked.

"Not a problem, Harry; please, sit," Dumbledore said, gesturing for Harry to take a seat in front of the desk. Harry couldn't help but feel a slight pang when he didn't hear Dumbledore's normal jovial, 'my boy,' when addressing him. Ignoring it, Harry did as he was told. "Now, Harry, please tell us why you're here."

"Well, I've been having dreams lately. Dreams like the ones I had last year," Harry said quietly, twiddling his thumbs. His body still ached and it was taking every ounce of self control not to just drop the floor and curl into himself.

"What dreams did you have last year, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked with pursed lips.

Harry bit his lip nervously. "Dreams about Voldemort," he admitted softly after a few moments of silence. He noticed Snape and McGonagall flinched at the name.

"Go on, Harry," Dumbledore urged, smiling kindly at him although the twinkle normally present in his eyes dampened.

"Well, I told Sirius about the dreams last year. After them, I can only remember snippets and sometimes nothing at all. Tonight, though...tonight was different. I had sent Sirius another letter and when I fell asleep, I had another dream. Voldemort was angry about something Crabbe Sr. failed to do and held him under the Cruciatus Curse. I didn't expect to feel the effects of it."

Dumbledore looked alarmed. "What do you mean by that, Harry?"

"When he cast the Cruciatus Curse on Crabbe, I could feel it too. It felt as if he had cast the curse on me," Harry elaborated, shivering slightly.

"Are you sure, boy?" Snape asked sharply, his eyes boring into Harry's head. Harry glared at him.

"I think I remember what being held under that curse feels like, thank you very much," he snapped, annoyed that Snape obviously didn't believe him or thought he was imagining things.

"Mind your tongue, Potter," Snape hissed, glaring back at Harry. "You're just like your fa–"

Harry stood up from his chair with every intention of yelling at Snape when he swerved on spot. His knees gave and he collapsed to the floor, groaning as he hugged himself and shuddered. Peter immediately flew to his side to make sure he was alright and Harry was thankful for the concern. His body still ached and he gave another pitiful moan of pain. Peter helped him sit up on the chair.

"You alright, Harry?" he asked gently, unaware that he was rubbing small circles on Harry's wrist with the pad of his thumb.

"I'm fine," Harry responded.

Dumbledore observed the behavior of both boys. His eyes narrowed momentarily before returning to their normal size. "Perhaps, Mr. Potter, it would be best if we take you to the Hospital Wing."

"Wait," Harry cried. "There's a few more things I have to tell you." When they didn't protest, he continued, "Voldemort knows Peter's here. Malfoy Sr. said that his son told him and now he knows how close Peter and I are. In Malfoy's report, he mentioned a raid being planned and how it was a distraction so they could find out Azkaban's weakness. Towards the end of the dream, Nagini said she detected a spiritual presence. I didn't know she could, but I think she could tell I was there and she told Voldemort."

The office fell silent after his statement. McGonagall looked slightly horrified, Snape looked paler, and Dumbledore looked grim.

"Are you sure, Harry?" Dumbledore asked softly. He looked his one hundred fourteen years of age and tiredly ran a hand through his beard.

"I'm positive, sir," Harry replied. "I can even show it to you in a pensieve."

"I think it'd be best if we do just that, Harry. Just to make sure we get all the important information," Dumbledore assured as he stood up. "Now, Harry, all I'm going to do is copy the memories so I can view them later. Stay still; it'll take but a few minutes. All you need to do, Harry, is think of the dream. See it clearly in your mind and relax. I'm going to cast a spell on you to copy the memories and use the tip of my wand to extract the memory. I'll be placing it in a vial. Now, it won't be painful but it'll most definitely be uncomfortable."

Harry did as he was told and repressed the urge to cringe when he felt the memory taken from his head. It felt not exactly uncomfortable, but weird. It was like a ghost was flying through him; something Moaning Myrtle enjoyed doing often. He had a feeling she only did it because she fancied him, but quickly pushed that out of his mind and concentrated on the dream. Peter was still rubbing soothing circles on his wrist and Harry remembered when Peter had comforted him when he almost drowned.

"All done, Harry," Dumbledore said.

Harry rubbed his temples and stumbled into Peter. "Wow; I feel sick," he murmured.

"Come on, Harry," Peter said softly. "You should go to the Hospital Wing."

"No, I'm fine," was Harry's immediate response.

Peter snorted. "Of _course_ you are. That's why you can't stand, are shivering, and obviously have a headache. You've got a clear bill of health," he said sarcastically before shaking his head. "Don't bother arguing with me, Harry. You _know _I'll get my way in the end, so just shut up and accept it. Now, I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing even if I have to immobilize and levitate you there myself."

Harry frowned. "I told you I'm fine," he said stubbornly, crossing his arms and scowling.

Peter mimicked his movements. "And I told you you're going to the damn Hospital Wing!"

"I don't have to go!" Harry said angrily.

"Yes, Harry, you do. If you felt the effects of the Cruciatus Curse as if it were cast on you, then you obviously need some medical care that Madame Pomfrey can provide. I know how strong you are, Harry, but even you can't just walk away after experiencing that curse," Peter said softly.

Harry stared at him for a while before sighing tiredly and put his head in his hands. "Fine; let's go before I change my mind," he muttered.

Peter grinned at him and gently grabbed his elbow and led him out of the Headmaster's office. The duo seemingly forgot their Professors were still in the room and had witnessed the entire exchange. Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully, a contemplative frown on his lips. His blue eyes narrowed only slightly as he pondered the closeness of the Gryffindor and Slytherin.

'_It can't be... No, it's impossible. There hasn't been one in a couple of centuries,' _he thought to himself. _'Then again, with what young Peter told me about his time spent in Neverland, there's a __**slight **__chance that it __**can **__be possible. However, in order for that to happen, they'd have to have met before. Harry's stayed in Privet Drive since I placed him in the Dursley's care...right?'_

Standing up, Dumbledore placed the vial with Harry's memory of his dream in a compartment in his desk. He wasn't too worried about visitors due to the vast amount of protection wards on it and gestured for Snape and McGonagall to follow him. He led them to the Hospital Wing where Madame Pomfrey was already handing Harry some potions to take.

"You are slightly malnourished, Mr. Potter," Madame Pomfrey said sternly. "I will be providing you with nutrient potions and you are to take them before all meals, understand?" At Harry's chastised nod, she continued, "This dark purple potion is to help you rid of the after effects of the Cruciatus Curse." Her eyes softened as she handed him the vial and Harry looked away; he hated seeing people pity him. Harry made a face as he threw back the potion; it tasted like crap, not that he expected it to be any different.

"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey," he said as she passed him a glass of water, easily gulping it down to rid of the nasty potion taste. "Can I go back to the dorm now?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Madame Pomfrey replied as she scribbled down some notes on a piece of parchment. "From what my scans say, you were held under two three-minute Cruciatus Curses. It's a wonder how you were able to stand after that; your body is young and anyone else under such conditions would've been in excruciating pain. My only guess as to why that is would have to be that your magic protected you. Is there anything you haven't told me?"

Harry bit his lip. "When I felt it for the second time, I was able to clear my mind and then I wasn't in pain anymore. You see, my magic has been acting up all summer. I started to get really angry all the time at the littlest things and when I did, I couldn't control my magic. The lights would flicker and glass broke. When I went to go see Snuffles and told him about, both he and Moony suggested I learn to meditate so I could control my emotions. I practiced every night during the summer, but I stopped when school started."

Madame Pomfrey looked startled, "Well, I think that may very well be why your magic protected you. When someone meditates, their magic is distributed evenly throughout the body into all of their magical pathways. That's why most people float; their magic pushes them off the ground. Clearing your mind requires will magic, and thus when you cleared your mind during the attack, your magic spread throughout your body into your magical pathways and blocked You-Know-Who's magic from harming you. Why you were affected in the first place, however, is an entirely different situation; one I cannot fathom."

Peter cocked an eyebrow. "So Harry's magic protected him because he cleared his mind, but you don't know why he felt the attack in the first place?"

"In a nutshell, yes," was the answer. Madame Pomfrey was scribbling furiously onto her parchment.

Dumbledore coughed delicately. "This certainly is a worrisome development," he said gravely. "I'm afraid I can shed some light as to why you were able to feel the curse, Harry."

Harry looked at him curiously. "How come you didn't say that earlier, Professor?"

"I wasn't sure if I was correct and even now I'm doubtful," Dumbledore confessed. "You see, Harry, when Voldemort gave you that scar, he connected the two of you. You already know this, yes? It is my belief that when he used your blood to resurrect himself last year, the connection between the two of you strengthened. Because you were meditating almost the entire summer and keeping your mind clear, this hasn't happened. Until we can be certain, we have to assume Voldemort can also see into your mind. This is very dangerous and that is why I'm assigning Professor Snape to teach you Occlumency."

Snape's reaction was immediate. "Headmaster, you can't possibly be serious! How can you expect me to teach that brat Occlumency?"

"Severus, it's the only way. This'll keep everybody safe," Dumbledore said tiredly. The silent, 'in particular, you,' rang in Snape's head. He knew because he was a spy, his position was incredibly jeopardized by this new development. That didn't mean he had to like it, though.

"Headmaster, surely you realize this is ludicrous. Me teach Potter Occlumency? This will never work," Snape sneered. "He is an arrogant little whelp and this feat will cause more harm than good."

"What's Occlumency?" Harry interjected, crossing his arms and glaring at both Dumbledore and Snape.

"Potter, listen well because I will only be explaining this once," Snape said as he scowled. "Occlumency is the art of magically defending the mind against external penetration; sealing it against magical intrusion and influence. It is the defensive counter to Legilimency. Someone who practices the art of Occlumency is known as an Occlumens, just as someone who practices Legilimency is referred to as a Legilimens.

"Occlumency is a necessary prerequisite to defeat a Legilimens' lie-detector abilities without suspicious behavior such as avoiding eye contact, something that can also be done to avoid a Legilimens from entering your mind. When you clear your mind of thought and emotion, a Legilimens cannot find emotional ties to memories he or she may be looking for and wish to exploit. In advanced Occlumency, which I doubt you'll ever get to, the Occlumens may suppress only feelings and memories that contradict what he or she wishes a Legilimens to believe. Me and you for example, Potter. If you told me you had not been wandering the corridors at night, you may suppress the memories showing that you did and replace them with fake ones so I wouldn't be able to discover the truth if I chose to use Legilimency on you."

Harry's eyes shone with understanding before he frowned and turned to Dumbledore. "Why can't you teach me, Professor?" he asked.

"Harry," Dumbledore started, "if I could, I would."

The Hospital Wing was silent until McGonagall, who had remained silent for a while, opened her mouth to speak. "We should get to bed," she said stiffly. "It's late, or rather early, and we all have schedules to maintain tomorrow."

"An excellent idea, Professor," Dumbledore said as he stood up. "Madame Pomfrey, when will young Harry be out of the Hospital Wing? It is important that he start Occlumency lessons with Severus as soon as possible."

Madame Pomfrey sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "He should be well enough to continue his classes tomorrow. His nerve endings were damaged only slightly because of his magic's interference, but the potion I gave him should reverse the effects. When he came here, his magic was already starting the job. Mr. Potter will be able to take his Occlumency lessons tonight." She turned to Harry, "Now, Mr. Potter, because of your malnourishment, I'll need to put you on a strict diet. I expect you to digest those potions before every meal and to follow the diet, which will be ready by the time you wake up. For now, I'll be giving you some Dreamless Sleep potion."

Harry nodded his head sullenly. "Yes, ma'am," he said softly as he took and swallowed the potion. Peter rubbed his shoulder comfortingly, an action that did not go unnoticed.

"Severus, please escort Mr. Pan back to Slytherin House," Dumbledore said softly. Snape nodded stiffly and Peter gave a now drowsy Harry a quick hug and whispered a farewell before leaving with the scowling Potions Master. "Goodnight, Harry," the Headmaster nearly whispered as he took his leave with McGonagall.

"Goodnight, Professor," Harry slurred as he snuggled deeper into the hospital bed. His vision blurred before everything went dark.

A/N: **You know you watch, read, and write Naruto too much when you accidentally write 'chakra pathways' instead of 'magical pathways' in an explanation. Haha, I'm an idiot. **Concerning Dumbledore's age, I looked it up and according to HP Lexion, he was born in the year 1881. Also, the little tidbit of information about Occlumency was also borrowed from HP Lexion. Umbridge will appear in the next chapter! I planned for her to be in this one, but inspiration took over and I couldn't help but just let my fingers do the typing. Actually, I'm so surprised this chapter only focused and revolved around Harry's vision and the scenes preceding it.

**QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:**

_**Are they really split into thirds with the rivalry or are some groups bigger than the other?**_

-No, not really into thirds. I should've said three sections, hehe. ; Some groups are bigger than the others. Example: Neutral is the biggest, followed by enemies, followed by friends.

_**Seamus says that the relationship between Ron, Harry and Hermione are like a love triangle, but Ron and Mione fancy each other. What exactly were you hinting at?**_

-I was hinting that Harry and Hermione's brotherly-sisterly affection for each other can be misinterpreted for something else, as shown by Ron's reaction above. Ron and Hermione do fancy each other, and they're a definite pairing.

_**Will Malfoy be friend or foe? (I like the friend direction )**_

-I would say neither. I'm trying to word this so I don't give too much away. For now, I'll just say undecided until that lovely, juicy part comes up in the story.

_**Will there be any other slash-age? SS/RL? FW/DM/GW? BZ/DM?" **_

-I was thinking of adding some Sirius/Remus. If people want Snape to be added to their pairing to make it into a threesome, I may consider it. I'm not sure if I'm going to make Malfoy gay or straight. . It's a pretty tough decision. I won't have anybody voting on it, though. This will ultimately be my decision.

_**I love your Peter/Harry series. The first was so sweet, now I'm looking forward to the more...hardcore(?) type of relationship between the two. I also can't wait to see what pranks you got the boys to come up with. Goodluck! I look forward to your next update. Keep up the brillant work!**_-Aw, thank you! That's so sweet. As for the hardcore relationship between them, they're only fifteen. Fifteen-year-olds normally experiment, not go all the way. There will, however, be a side one-shot with them getting to that point in their relationship. It'll be the more intimate scenes and I think it'll stay a one-shot unless I get popular demand for more.

_**I still think they should off Ron permanently, but aside from that great chapter. Glad to see Peter back and am looking forward to them getting closer. -wags eyebrows-**_

-Haha; Ron will be sticking in around in this story. There'll be no character bashing in this fic; sorry to those who might've been looking forward to it. ; As for Peter and Harry getting closer, they will be getting closer. I don't think I'll have them do anything sexual yet. They **are** only fifteen and most fifteen-year-olds only experiment. There may be some light experimentation, but not full out sex scenes. Those come later. In a one-shot.

_**I can't believe the Slytherin's would do that to Peter, he is one of them after all!**_

-Peter may be one of them, but he's friends with a Gryffindor. Said Gryffindor is Harry Potter, bane of their parents' Master's existence. Boy-Who-Lived, Golden Boy, etc. They do anything to anyone that was in love with him, including their own children. At least, that's how I see it.

Keep the questions coming. I only posted the ones I felt everyone should see the responses to. The next update may be in a week or two. Thanks to all that reviewed; they make me happy! The next chapter should be relatively happier, with only the toad to ruin it. Sirius' response will be there and Harry and Peter will plot against the Slytherins.


	6. Chapter 6: Pride

Disclaimer: **Harry Potter and co. belong to J.K. Rowling and Peter Pan belongs to J.M. Barrie. No copyright/trademark infringement is intended and no profit is being made from the making of this story.**

Chapter Six – Pride

Harry woke up from perhaps the most peaceful sleep he's ever had. Stretching, he turned his head when he heard a cough. His vision was incredibly blurry and he automatically reached onto the bedside table for his glasses. Peter was looking at him oddly and Harry cocked his head to the side in confusion. A light flush spread across Peter's face and his eyes were slightly widened.

"Peter, are you okay?" Harry asked, looking at the other teen worriedly. Peter licked his now dry lips and turned around.

"Let me know when you're decent," he said softly. Harry looked down and let out a strangled noise of surprise. His pajama bottoms were gone, leaving him in his boxers and tee shirt. Immediately, he grabbed the blankets that he had apparently kicked off during the middle of the night, and yanked them up. Looking around, he spotted his pajama bottoms on the left side of the bed. He wasted no time in putting them on and tied the drawstrings tightly.

"I'm, uh, decent again," he said, his voice coming out several octaves higher than average. Clearing his throat, he repeated himself. His face was hot and Harry knew he mimicked a tomato.

Peter turned around and grinned. "How're you feeling?" he asked, intent on forgetting the sight he had seen moments ago.

Harry was thankful for that. "I'm feeling a lot better, actually," the Gryffindor replied brightly. He got out of bed and put on his slippers. "What time is it?"

"It is 7:00 a.m. You've got fifteen minutes before breakfast starts."

Harry looked at Peter curiously, "How long have you been here?"

"Only fifteen minutes," was the response. Harry blinked.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier, then?" Peter mumbled something inaudibly. "I'm sorry, you mind talking a bit louder? What you're saying is supposed to be heard by humans."

Peter's cheeks grew a little hot. "I said I didn't want to wake you up because you seemed peaceful," he said softly. "Besides, I thought you could use all the sleep you could get; especially after what you went through last night."

Harry flushed and he gave Peter a silly little grin. "Aw, that's so sweet of you," he said as he gave Peter a hug. Peter returned it and they just held each other for a while. Harry felt so comfortable and after awakening from such a good sleep, he couldn't help but feel more relaxed as he snuggled into another warm body. The action itself felt so familiar and both teenagers were content. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Pan, I had no idea you were so...close." They jumped apart and blushed heavily when they noticed Madame Pomfrey looking at them oddly.

"We...we were, uh," they said in unison only to look at each other before staring at the floor.

Madame Pomfrey made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "It doesn't matter," she said. "Now, Mr. Potter, here is the diet you are to follow–my suggestion to you is to have Ms. Granger look it over so that she can help you–and these are the nutrient potions that you are to take before every meal. You can take one right now and come back here tomorrow morning for more."

"Alright; thanks, Madame Pomfrey," Harry said as he gulped down the sickly green potion. He grimaced at the taste; no matter how many potions he would ever have to consume, he knew he'd never get used to that putrid taste.

"Shoo," Madame Pomfrey said gently. "Your day will be starting soon. If you experience anything out of the ordinary, Mr. Potter, come straight back here."

Harry nodded obediently, knowing that even if he didn't want to come should anything occur that Peter would force him. The medi-witch smiled at him, patted his shoulder, and swiftly walked over to her office, closing the door and muttering to herself. Peter smiled at Harry and took something out of his pocket.

"This came for you while you were sleeping," he murmured, handing Harry the letter.

Harry made note of the letter still sealed. "You didn't read it?" he teased. "I always thought Mr. Pan was oh-so-curious."

Peter grinned crookedly, a dusting of pink covering the bridge of his nose. "It's yours, Harry. I wouldn't betray your trust like that."

"I know; I really appreciate that," Harry murmured as he opened the letter, offering Peter a shy little grin. His grin, however, widened as he read the letter.

"Something good, I assume?" Peter inquired.

"Better," Harry said happily as he thrust the letter into Peter's hands. "Read it."

**Prongslet,**

**Well, let me be one of the few people to congratulate you on seeing past the House boundaries. Sad to say, when I was your age, I did not do that. If this Peter bloke is truly a good friend, Harry, then hang onto that; hold a true friend with both hands. Remember, the greatest gift is not found in a store nor under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends.**

**Now, about Ron. I can bet he's more hurt than anything. Here you are, his best mate, when a new bloke comes along that seems to steal all of your attention. He probably felt you were tossing him to the side and overreacted, as Weasleys tend to do. I think it's in their blood or something; they might need to go to an apothecary and get an anger reduction. (Moony also thought that was funny, for the record.)**

**On a more Sirius note (haha, get it?), I'm glad that you have friends at school supporting you. You know Moony and I will always be behind you no matter what, right? Even if you go off and decide to bugger Voldemort (please don't, though, as I fear it will be very bad for my health. That, and I cringe at the mental image—yuck!).**

**Aha! I knew you would have Marauder blood in you! Of course I have pranks; what do you take me for? Enclosed in the envelope is a potion that your father and I worked very hard on; I'll have you know it took ages to come up with the right combination of ingredients to get the right effects. But, you probably don't want to hear about that. (Moony says he has something he'd like to show you over Christmas, but he won't tell me. Isn't he so mean?) Ask that house elf that worships you—Dorky, was his name?—to place it in the food supply. Sorry to say you might get caught in the effects of this potion, but it isn't bad, I assure you. Nearly everybody will get a dose of the prank, but it'll be harder for the professors to find out who caused it.**

**Love,**

**Sirius**

**P.S. You've been slacking on your meditation, haven't you? Harry, if you continue to clear your mind and practice meditating, you'll be able to eventually learn Occlumency. I'm not sure if you know what Occlumency is, so I'll tell you anyway. It's a type of mind magic that will allow you to block people from entering your mind and, should they enter, force them from it. It can also prevent these nightmares you've been having. Please, Harry, don't stop your meditation just because you're at Hogwarts now.**

Peter gave Harry a small grin. "He really cares for you," he said softly.

Harry flushed and nodded his head. "He's really great; maybe you can meet him over Christmas!" Harry grinned widely at the prospect, practically bouncing with excitement. "Ooh, that would be so much fun! Do you? Want to come over for Christmas, that is?"

"I'd like that a lot, Harry," Peter said softly.

Harry's grin was in danger of splitting his face when realization hit him like a steamroller. "Oh, no. You can't," he whispered sadly. "Ron and I aren't friends anymore and he'll be there along with the rest of the Weasleys."

Peter shrugged his shoulders. "It's okay, then. Maybe another time I can meet this infamous godfather of yours."

Harry smiled. "Thanks for being so understanding," he said softly.

"You don't have to thank me," Peter assured. "It's obvious that he means a lot to you and I'll go back to Neverland and wait forever if I have to in order to have the honor of meeting someone you can truly consider family."

'_He's amazing,_' Harry thought happily. He really wanted to just give Peter a big hug and stay cuddled next to him, not giving a damn about everything else.

Soon they reached Gryffindor tower and Peter waited outside while Harry dressed.

"What're you doing here?"

Peter turned towards the menacing voice, scowling when he saw Ron Weasley. "Waiting for Harry, my _friend_," he said coldly. "Not like I owe _you_ any explanation."

Weasley glared at him. "You cast a spell on him," he accused. "Give me my best mate back!"

"You're the one that abandoned the friendship, Weasley. I can't give you something you threw away."

"You did something to him!"

"I have no need to do anything to him, Weasley!" Peter practically snarled. "I was friends with him longer than you were!"

"The Harry I knew would never have associated with Slytherins—Death Eater scum!" Weasley bellowed. "Everyone knows the Pans were a dark family! I'll bet you tricked him into thinking you were his friend before Hogwarts. You probably don't even really know Harry at all!"

"I know _everything_ about Harry," Peter said quietly, his eyes flashing dangerously. "And I know you tossed him aside because he doesn't share the same prejudiced beliefs you do. Let me tell you something, Weasley. Harry has a heart of gold and is an amazing person with an astonishing capacity to forgive and to love. I've no doubt that he'd probably take your sorry hide back when you do come crawling back to him. He didn't deserve you throwing away something you've probably shared since your first year here. I won't let you hurt him. Mark my words, Weasley, upset him again and you'll find out _why_ I was put in Slytherin."

Silence reigned for a few moments before the portrait opened.

"Peter, I'm ready to…oh, Ro—Weasley," Harry said, shocked. He looked awkward and glanced between the flushed appearances of both teens. "Um, is everything alright?"

"Fine," Peter said without taking his eyes off of Weasley. "Just a friendly discussion. Are you ready to eat?"

Harry decided not to question Peter until later. "Yeah, let's go."

"I can't believe you chose a Slytherin over our friendship, Harry," Weasley said softly.

Harry looked at his ex-best friend sadly. "I didn't choose Peter over you," he replied quietly. "You chose your rage and jealousy over me. And, last time I checked, _you_ were the one to call off this friendship. _Not_ me."

Harry and Peter walked away, an uncomfortably sad silence between them.

"He'll come around," Peter told him. "I don't like the prat, but even I can tell that he'll come crawling back to you."

Harry smiled a little. "That doesn't exactly make him leaving any easier. Everyone tells me that Ron will come back and that we'll be best mates again, but it still hurts that he continuously gets jealous over things that don't matter."

Peter stopped Harry and looked into his eyes. "You shouldn't be hurt by his actions," he said softly. "Emotions can make someone do really stupid things that they'll regret at a later time."

Harry sighed softly. "Yeah, I know."

Peter pulled him into a gentle hug. "Come on, let's eat. I'm hungry."

Grabbing Harry's hand, Peter led Harry to the Great Hall where they were greeted with silence. Not wanting to deal with the Slytherins right now, Peter sat at the Gryffindor table with Harry and his friends. They spoke softly to one another as they ate their breakfast, ignoring the fact that everyone was talking about them. Harry found with Peter right next to him, the extra attention he normally hated receiving was a bit more bearable despite him still not liking or appreciating it.

"What class have you got first today, Harry?" Peter asked.

Harry fished into his backpack to pull out his schedule. "I have Care of Magical Creatures," he said, smiling at the thought of being in Hagrid's class. He frowned slightly when he realized that Hagrid was still gone.

"I have that class too," Peter said with a smile. "After that I've got Ancient Runes."

Harry and Peter continued to exchange schedules when owls swept down, delivering the morning post. Hermione opened the _Daily Prophet _and blanched before she glared hatefully at the paper. Harry seemed to have noticed something wrong and gave her a questioning look. She hesitated for a moment before showing him the paper. Harry's eyes widened when he saw the headline: **Harry Potter's Claims of the Dark Lord's Return Proven False!** His mouth dropped, forming a perfect 'O' as he read the article. Glancing around the Great Hall, he heard the whispers and saw the pointing and instantly knew that his fellow classmates all believed the damned article.

Peter glanced at the article and frowned. A picture of Cornelius Fudge waving stared at him and he shuddered as the incompetent Minister winked at him. Reading the article made him furious on Harry's behalf. Instead of taking into consideration that Harry could be right about Voldemort's return, the Minister attacked him with false accusations of Harry being an attention seeker and placing all of the blame concerning recent attacks on certain Muggle residences on Sirius Black. Glancing around him, Peter could tell that the Daily Prophet's article had everyone buzzing—and nothing that was being said was in favor of believing Harry.

"Let's go to class, Harry," he said softly, tearing up the article. "It's almost time for it to start."

Harry glanced at him and the pieces of the article before nodding.

The black-haired Gryffindor along with his small entourage walked on the school grounds towards Hagrid's hut. Peter, having decided to keep Harry's mind off of the article earlier, was holding Harry's hand and tracing the lines on his palm as he attempted to see his future, making Harry laugh as the other boy unknowingly made fun of Professor Trelawney.

"So what do you see, Mr. Pan?" Harry asked, failing at keeping a straight face.

"Why, Mr. Potter, this is definitely not a surprise. Not a surprise indeed," Peter said, smiling goofily.

"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.

"See this line here? It's telling me that it's lonely," Peter said softly, flushing lightly. "But, I know a way it'll feel better."

"How?" Harry was a little confused as to why Peter's face turned a little red.

"See this line on my palm? It's lonely too," Peter hinted. "The best way to help two lonely lines is to," he entwined his fingers with Harry's, "join them."

Harry's face took on a fiery hue and only worsened when he heard Seamus and Dean snickering. "Oh."

Hermione took a look at Harry's blushing face and Peter's adoring one and her eyes widened. Now that she looked at the two of them, she could see a strong attraction between them. It never even occurred to her that Harry might like a boy in that way. That didn't matter to her, though. After the events of last year, she could see how depressed and guilty Harry felt. Now, with Peter beside him, she saw him truly happy. Hermione silently vowed to make sure that Harry stood happy.

As the day went on, Harry grew increasingly uncomfortable. It was a repeat of last year and second year all over again with people whispering behind his back everywhere he went. His friends helped take his mind off of things, but it didn't work completely. Divination was especially awkward since he and Weasley were no longer talking. Harry ended up sitting by himself, which suited him just fine as nearly every person in the class looked at him suspiciously.

When it was time for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry was exhausted and annoyed at the treatment he was receiving. He'd overheard several students talking about Umbridge and wasn't looking forward to taking his favorite class in the slightest. Peter was in that class with him, though, and that did make him feel better. As he took a seat, he absentmindedly looked around the room. He frowned slightly when he saw more than a couple of posters promoting Minister Fudge and the Ministry itself. Harry could tell this would be a long year.

"Hey," Peter whispered as he took a seat next to Harry.

"Hey yourself," Harry whispered back.

They didn't have time to talk anymore as class began and Umbridge annoyingly cleared her throat. "Welcome," she said breathily, her voice light, "to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I am Professor Umbridge. This year will be a bit different from previous years, I'm sure. Wands away and quills out, please."

The students appeared confused as they did as they were told.

"Ordinary Wizarding Levels," Umbridge said. "Studying hard will prepare you for this important test. Fail to do this and the consequences can be…_severe_. Now, despite your previous years of instruction to be lacking, this new carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic will prepare you to take these O.W.L.s. Yes, Miss…?"

"Granger," Hermione said. "What exactly do you mean by theory-centered? Surely we will also be practicing defensive spells?"

Umbridge gave a light giggle. "I don't see why you would need to _practice_ defensive spells, Miss Granger," she said.

"So we won't actually be using our magic then?" Harry asked.

"Of course not!" Umbridge exclaimed. "You'll be learning about defensive spells in a risk-free, safe environment. Nothing will be attacking you in or out of my classroom."

"How exactly are we supposed to protect ourselves against dark arts if we only learn the theory behind it?" Harry argued. "Theory alone isn't going to save us when we're battling Death Eaters!"

The class went silent as Umbridge's eye subtly twitched. "Death Eaters?" she asked quietly. "Mr. Potter, I would appreciate it if you didn't spread lies in my classroom. No…_Death Eaters_…will attack you."

"It's not a lie!" Harry burst out. "They'll attack on Voldemort's command!" He wanted to role his eyes as nearly the entire class gasped and flinched at the mention of the Dark Lord's name.

Umbridge frowned. "I've heard stories about you, Mr. Potter. I can see that the Headmaster's favoritism has given you the belief that you can spread lies with no consequences. Well, let me assure you that I am _not_ the Headmaster and will not allow your sins to go unpunished. Detention tonight at seven o'clock sharp. Perhaps writing papers will help break your habit."

Harry glared at her furiously, the anger and frustration he experienced throughout the day at its peak. He briefly heard Summer Chime telepathically ask him to calm his temper before he did or said something he would later regret, but he ignored her. "I'm not lying," he hissed. "Voldemort is back and he'll kill us all if we don't prepare! Sitting in a _safe_ and _risk-free_ environment only ensures the Dark side's victory in the upcoming war!"

"Enough!" Umbridge bit out. "That is enough, Mr. Potter."

"No, it isn't!" Harry said loudly as he stood up and nearly slammed his hands on the table. "You and the Ministry might enjoy covering up the truth and wrongfully accusing people of the backfires of your screw-ups, but I don't! Voldemort IS back! Forcing us to learn only the theory in defense is signing our death certificates! Why don't you just Avada Kedavra us your damn self?!"

"OUT!" Umbridge screamed, "FIFTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR! OUT!"

Harry was only too happy to grab his backpack and leave the classroom, still fuming over the events that had transpired. He was aware that the Gryffindor house would most likely hate him for losing fifty points so soon, but he didn't care. Harry was tired of just sitting back and letting the Daily Prophet and the Ministry discredit him as if he were some liar. There was only so much he could take.

◦_Harry, are you okay?_◦ Summer Chime asked telepathically.

◦Yes, ◦ Harry said softly. ◦I think I should've listened to you, but at the same time I'm glad I didn't. They need to know the truth. With the Ministry forcing us to learn magic this way, they're going to get us all killed. ◦

◦_I know why you did it, Harry,_ ◦ Summer Chime said gently. ◦_I can read your thoughts, remember? While I do agree with what you're saying, perhaps it would've been best if you hadn't given your classmates even more reason to think you're a liar and an attention-seeker. I mean, they're definitely not going to be pleased with you now._ ◦

Harry blinked. Summer Chime was right and, though he knew it, he still couldn't really find it in himself to care. ◦I see your point, ◦ he told her.

◦_Peter's proud of you, though,_ ◦ she said with a smile. ◦_Winter Chime tells me he was ready to hex the professor, but didn't need to since you held your own._ ◦

Harry flushed with pleasure. ◦He is? ◦

◦_Yup! He would've ran out of the classroom with you, but Tinker Bell and Winter Chime talked him out of it._ ◦

Harry's lips quirked upwards. That sounded like Peter, all right. His smile disappeared as he remembered the fiasco that occurred just moments ago. He knew there was no way he would be able to survive all year with Umbridge as a teacher. She seemed pretty set on squishing the truth whenever he spoke of it and would definitely be a problem in the months to come. The bigger problem, however, seemed like the lack of teaching in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Harry shook his head and continued to make his way towards Gryffindor Tower. There was too much thinking to do and he had a terrible headache; Umbridge's shrieks had left his ears ringing. How could he…? A slow smirk crept across his face as he remembered he had yet to use the potion Sirius had given him. Casting a quick Tempus charm, Harry snickered a little. He had enough time to call Dobby and have him add it to the food and water supply. This would ensure that not only the Slytherins would be punished for what they did to Peter, but he also had a chance to get back at Umbridge.

"Dobby!"

The eccentric house elf arrived with a small pop. "Master Harry Potter sir!" the elf squealed. "What can Dobby do for great and noble wizard Master Harry Potter sir?"

"Hello, Dobby. I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"Anything for Master Harry Potter sir!"

"You have to promise to keep it quiet," Harry said seriously. "Or I could get in trouble."

Dobby's eyes widened and he crossed his heart. "Dobby not says anything about great and noble wizard! Not a peep!"

"I need you to put this potion in the food and water supply," Harry said quietly. "The Slytherins were mean to a friend of mine and this is payback."

Dobby took the potion and nodded his head furiously. "Of course, Master Harry Potter sir! Dobby will put the potion in right away!"

"Thank you, Dobby. I appreciate the help," Harry said with a smile.

Tears appeared in the elf's eyes. "Harry Potter sir is a great and noble wizard," he sobbed. "A great and noble wizard."

Dobby popped away, supposedly to the kitchen, and Harry practically ran to the tower. He couldn't wait to see the results of the potion and snickered at the thought of Umbridge, Malfoy, or, hopefully, Snape caught in the crossfire. Though he didn't know what exactly would happen, he had a feeling it would be funny. After all, his dad and Sirius designed it. They're the ones that inspired the Weasley twins and any joke the twins performed always made him laugh.

Throwing himself on his bed, Harry rested while he waited impatiently for his friends to get out of Umbridge's joke of a class.

A/N: Oh my goodness, it's been over a year since my last update! I am so terribly sorry. I've had a multitude of personal problems to work through. It's not an excuse, but it's what happened. I have not abandoned this story nor will I. It's just too cute for me to stop working on it completely. Thanks to any and all that have stuck with me. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to get the next one out soon.

_**What did Dumbledore mean when he was thinking about Harry and Peter?**_

-I can't say what he means by it, but I will say that it'll play a HUGE part in later chapters. Dumbledore's suspicions will explain an event that happened in _Never_ as well as a later event that will occur in _Always_.


	7. Chapter 7: Aftermath

Disclaimer: **Harry Potter and co. belong to J.K. Rowling and Peter Pan belongs to J.M. Barrie. No copyright/trademark infringement is intended and no profit is being made from the making of this story.**

Chapter Seven – Aftermath

Harry's eyes snapped open and he sat up, blinking owlishly at the people gathered around his bed. He hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep. Licking his lips, Harry readied himself.

"That was," Neville began.

"Incredible, Harry!" Seamus finished. "I _completely_ agree with you. It seems like Professor Lupin was the only competent teacher we've ever had."

Hermione's lips pursed. "That was very irresponsible," she said disapprovingly.

Harry sighed. "So I should've shut up and just let her think the world is safe and we only have to worry about getting a paper cut from reading that ridiculous excuse of a book?"

"No," Hermione argued. "You had every right to express your opinions."

The other Gryffindors looked shocked. "Huh?" Harry asked confusedly.

Hermione smiled slightly. "You were right to express your opinions," she elaborated, "but you were wrong in the way you went about doing it. Now you have detention and lost Gryffindor fifty points. What good did losing your temper do besides prove to the rest of the school that you really _are_ an attention-seeking brat?"

"That makes sense," Dean said softly.

"Well, _Hermione_ said it," Neville offered shyly.

Harry looked at her sheepishly. "Okay, I see your point," he said softly, wincing a little. He realized that Hermione was right; he hadn't thought before exploding at Umbridge and hadn't proved anything. "I wonder how much damage I've caused…"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "No clue until we go downstairs and face the firing squad."

"How much longer until lunch is finished?"

A quick Tempus charm was cast. "You still have twenty minutes to eat," Dean informed him.

There was a knock on the door and Ginny poked her head through. She gave Harry a sly smirk and said, "Your boy is here. He's waiting outside."

Harry's face turned red as his friends mock-cooed at him and Summer Chime mentally teased him from her place in his pocket. He rolled his eyes. "He's not my boy," he denied. "We're friends."

Seamus laughed. "No, Harry. **_We're_** friends. You and Peter, on the other hand, are more like boyfriends."

"What?" Harry gaped.

"Even I've noticed it," Neville admitted. "It's really sweet. He can make you laugh and smile when you're really sad. You both hug a lot and remain in close proximity with each other."

Harry's blush traveled down to his neck. "We do?" he squeaked. "I've never noticed. We've always been this close."

Hermione's eyebrow rose. "Really?"

Harry nodded his head. "Ever since we first met when we were kids."

Ginny smiled. "That's so cute," she squealed. "Go, see him!"

Harry nearly stumbled as he made his way down to the common room and rushed out the portrait. Peter was waiting patiently and grinned when he saw the Gryffindor. "You were brilliant, Harry!" he said, hugging him.

Harry noticed, not for the first time, how nice it felt when Peter hugged him. "Um, thanks," he mumbled, returning the hug whole-heartedly.

Peter pulled away and poked him on the forehead. "You were brilliant, but that was stupid."

Harry nodded his head. "I know. Hermione lectured me about it already. It's just that, at the time…"

"You were angry," Peter supplied.

"Yeah. But, you're all right; I should've thought a little more before I spoke and gone about expressing my opinion differently. I guess this is even more reason to practice meditation."

"What's done is done," Peter said softly. "And at least you stood up for what you believe in; not most people have the courage to do that and it seems like an honorable way to get detention. Next time, though, you should fight for what you believe in with a clear head instead of rushing into something without a plan; just like a Gryffindor."

"I _am_ a Gryffindor," Harry said, flushing slightly. "Oh! Before I forget to tell you, Dobby agreed."

Peter's brow furrowed in confusion before his eyes widened slightly and he smirked. "That'll be fun," he mumbled. "Who will it target?"

"Everybody, lest we arouse suspicion."

Peter nodded and whatever he was going to say died in his throat as Harry's friends walked out of the common room. They sent him knowing smirks, supporting smiles, and perverted (in Seamus' case) giggles. Harry briefly wondered if his face would pop with how red it turned.

Hermione looked Peter in the eye and said, "Hurt him and I'll kill you."

Peter nodded in understanding. "I would never do anything to intentionally hurt him," he said fiercely and firmly. "Harry's an amazing person and I wouldn't dare treat him any less."

A smile bloomed on Harry's face before he grabbed Peter's hand and began to drag him down the stairs. "Come on," he said excitedly. "I'm hungry."

Hermione watched as Peter threaded their fingers together and Harry's smile turned shy yet pleased. She met Ginny's gaze and shared a smile; they hadn't seen Harry so happy and carefree since before the Goble of Fire disaster last year. It was nice to see Harry able to act like the teenager that he was instead of the Savior with the weight of the world on his shoulders. She knew that Peter had something to do with this more joyful version of Harry and was thankful for it. Still, something in the back of her mind was trying to tell her something every time she looked at Harry and Peter. It seemed like they were hiding something from her as well as the rest of their friends. She believed them when they said that they met when they were kids, but Hermione had a feeling that there was more to the story than they let on. Perhaps she would go to the library and see if she could come up with any sort of explanation.

When they entered the Great Hall, the chatter stopped. Harry reluctantly took his hand out of Peter's and kept his head up. Yes, it was a mistake to just yell at Umbridge like he did. However, he refused to regret what he actually said. If the Ministry wanted to lie to the world and deny Voldemort's return, Harry would make sure that they faced the truth one way or another. Without a proper Defense Against the Dark Arts class or a competent teacher to instruct them, they didn't stand a chance.

His loyal group of friends glared at anyone who tried to burn holes into his head. Peter acted as a shield as he sat next to Harry in a vacant part of Gryffindor table and piled food for him. Whispers erupted as the group blocked Harry from the view of the rest of the school and pointedly ignored the hateful words being spewed at Harry's expense. Hermione could see Ron grow increasingly uncomfortable as the neutral part of the Gryffindor table grew a tad smaller.

A loud pop gathered the attention of the Great Hall and they stopped glaring at their Savior before turning their attention to the Head Table. Astonishingly enough, Professor McGonagall had managed to turn into a bright purple flamingo. Silence reigned over the Hall for a few short moments before snickers were heard, particularly from the Slytherin table. Professor Dumbledore stood up to try to aid his Deputy Headmistress, but he shared the same fate as his colleague and turned into an orange chicken.

It wasn't long before laughter erupted in the Great Hall and several other people were turned into animals. Harry laughed as Umbridge was turned into a pink toad and Snape was turned into a harmless, powder blue rabbit. The prank didn't only affect teachers; students from all of the Houses were turned into colorful animals. The Ravenclaw table, unsurprisingly, discovered that the people turning into colorful animals had all eaten or drank something and refused to dine. Eventually the other houses caught on, although not until a good portion of the students had changed into animals. It amused Harry to no end when Malfoy turned into a bright red kneazle. How dangerous!

Madame Pomfrey along with Professors Flitwick and Sprout made quick work of gathering the animals. The mediwitch cast several diagnostic charms on the Headmaster, ignoring his clucking. She pursed her lips together and shook her head slightly. "I can't change them back," she said. "I haven't seen anything like this since James Potter and his gang were in school."

"What'll happen?" Professor Flitwick squeaked.

"There's something blocking any transfiguration spells from turning them back," Madame Pomfrey said agitatedly.

"Is there anything you can do?" Professor Sprout asked, frowning slightly at their helplessness.

Madame Pomfrey answered after five minutes of charms. "It appears that this was the work of a potion, though I'm not sure who did it or how they even got nearly the entire school to be the victims of this prank. They should be fine by later this evening," the mediwitch concluded. "For now, what we can do is round up the students and separate the species so nobody gets eaten."

"Students, your attention, please," Professor Sprout called, using a Sonorous charm when her request went unheard. "Yes, thank you. Whilst the staff and your peers are incapacitated, you all must stay in your rooms! Sixth year prefects, if you will please escort your untransfigured housemates to your dorms. Seventh year students, if you will please aid us in rounding up the animals."

"**_Harry!_**"

"**_Peter?_**" Harry bit his lip and tried to hide his giggle as a purple snake looked up at him dryly and nodded his head. "**_I didn't know your food was tainted,_**" he told the snake apologetically in Parseltongue. "**_At least we can still talk, right?_**"

"**_That's the only good thing about being in this form,_**" Peter responded bluntly. "**_Who else do we know was turned into an animal? The last person I saw get turned was Professor Snape._**"

"**_Well, Malfoy was turned into a kneazle, Ron was turned into a ferret (which is ironic since he's always calling Malfoy ferret-face), Luna was turned into a badger, Ginny was turned into a peacock, and Seamus was turned into a mouse_**," Harry replied with a small chuckle. "**_They might be mad when they find out we were responsible for the prank._**"

"**_You mean IF,_**" Peter said slyly, winking.

Harry was instantly reminded of the boa constrictor he let loose in the zoo before he went to Hogwarts. "**_Haha, you're right_**," Harry said, chuckling lightly. "**_I'm not too sure I would want to tell them we were responsible for this mess_**."

"Harry, who are you talking to?" Hermione asked, eyeing the snake somewhat warily.

"Poor, poor Peter was turned into a snake," Harry explained. "Why would I put him with everyone else when I can just keep him with me?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled. "Come on, we have to go to the common room. I can't believe Fred and George did this! Now we have a whole day of classes gone!"

"Fred and George?" Harry asked, his jaw slacked with shock.

"Who else would be responsible for such a wide-scale prank like this?" Hermione complained. "And I was really hoping that Professor McGonagall would answer some of my questions regarding the essay."

"The one that is due next week?" Harry asked dryly.

"Hush, you."

Harry laughed as they walked up to the Gryffindor Common Room. Fred and George were there, having managed to sneak their way out of helping round up their schoolmates, and were getting clapped on the back and told about how brilliant their latest prank was. The twins looked at each other and then looked back at the crowd.

"While we—"

"Would like to—"

"Have the credit for this—"

"AMAZING prank, the—"

"Sad truth is that we—"

"The terrifically awesome—"

"Undeniably sexy—"

"Still single studs, ladies and gents—"

"And pranking prodigies—"

"Extraordinaire—"

"Did not pull—"

"Off this fabulous—"

"Display of rebellion," the twins finished in unison.

"If someone created this prank," Fred began.

"Please step forward," George continued.

"So that we may shake your hand," Fred said with a large smile.

"And give credit where it is due," George finished, his admiring gaze searching the crowd of Gryffindors as if he could miraculously see the mysterious prankster.

"You honestly expect us to believe that you had nothing to do with that stupid prank?" Hermione demanded, her expression one of annoyance.

"If it were us, we would be more than happy to take credit for it!" Fred protested. "But we didn't do it! Honest!"

"The only people I can think of that would have done something like this are the King Pranksters, but they haven't been in school for many a year," George said thoughtfully.

Hermione huffed. "Yeah, whatever. Come on, Harry. Just because classes have been cancelled today doesn't mean we can't do anything academically productive."

Harry groaned and hissed quietly to Peter, "**_Why couldn't I have eaten any of the pranked food?_**"

Peter laughed, which sounded more like a series of hisses. "**_I'm glad you didn't. If you did, I wouldn't have been able to curl up with you._**"

Harry blushed as Peter happily slithered around his neck; he supposed it was a snake's way of cuddling. He noticed Fred and George looking at him slyly and, trying to keep the hot blush under wraps, inquired, "Why're you looking at me like that?"

"Tell me, Harry, are you aware that you have a snake—"

"Curled around your neck and looking—"

"Quite happy about it?" the twins finished together.

Harry flushed and rolled his eyes. "So? What's your point?"

"Who is it, mate?" Fred asked with a devilish grin.

"Oooh! I know who it is! I know! I know!" George said, trying to appear innocent as he bounced on the balls of his feet, though the knowing smirk ruined that image.

"And who do you think it is, dear brother of mine?" Fred inquired.

"Harry's Slytherin! It _must_ be Harry's Slytherin! Who else would he let curl around him like that? Besides, we saw them all chummy this morning and yesterday. Say, Fred, do you think ickle little Harrykins over here _likes_ his Slytherin?"

"My Slytherin?" Harry asked curiously, ignoring the question and amazed he hadn't passed out with all the blood rushing to his head.

"Harry, darling, everyone knows Peter Pan is your Slytherin. I mean, you defended him against your best friend of five years," Fred said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, and don't worry about Ronnikins, either," George added in. "He can be an ignorant prat where Slytherins are concerned."

"You know what I think, George?"

"Should I, Fred?"

"I think nearly everyone in the noble House of Lions are ignorant prats where Slytherins are concerned. I mean, some loyalty we're showing, not standing by poor Harrykins while he becomes yet another scapegoat for the world," Fred said sadly, wiping away an invisible tear from his eye.

George pretended to sob. "It's the saddest thing," he wailed, "when Gryffindors can't even display some House Loyalty. Truly sad, considering we're the House of bravery and loyalty. Why, I feel so ashamed of being a Gryffindor right now!"

"We should've been Sorted elsewhere," Fred sniffled. "At least the other Houses, Slytherin included, can stand by their own."

"Oh, what a shame!" the twins cried in unison, fully aware of their audience and reveled in the somewhat guilty expressions on the untransfigured students. "Poor, poor Harry!"

Harry flushed as the twins quite suddenly hugged him tightly, causing Peter to hiss angrily as they became the meat in a twin sandwich. He felt a lot better about the school turning on him, though, and chuckled a bit at their antics —though it had a wheezing tint to it since his lungs were being crushed.

"**_Are you alright, Harry? Tell those vultures to get off!_**" Peter exclaimed, throwing the best glare he could muster in the snake form at the twins.

"**_I'm okay,_**" Harry gasped. "**_That's their way of showing affection. I'm really glad they support me._**"

"Wow, Harry," Fred breathed.

"That kinda sounds hot," George whispered.

"Ever thought about sharing your bed with twins?" they said cheekily.

Harry blushed furiously. "Get off me!" he said, pulling himself from their embrace.

"Oh well," Fred said, looking somewhat disappointed though there was a twinkle in his eye that gave away how serious he was being and how much fun he was having at making Harry blush in embarrassment.

"Maybe when you're older," George suggested devilishly. "And your Slytherin can join, too!"

Hermione huffed, a bright blush across her cheeks as she grabbed Harry and practically ripped him away from the twins. "Perverts," she hissed. "You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!"

Fred rolled his eyes and wagged his finger at Hermione. "Well, little missy, if you wanted to join in, you should've just said so! Honestly, we don't mind. No need to put on the jealousy act."

Hermione's face turned redder and she let out an indignant screech, reaching into her backpack to grab the heaviest textbook she owned and smacking each of the twins over the heads with it. They yelped and ran around the Common Room in circles in an attempt to escape Hermione's ruthless attacks.

"Mercy!" George wailed. "Mercy, you cruel witch!"

"You take that back!" Hermione grit out, glaring at the twins. "You perverted, vile, immature, pig-headed, crude, juvenile, sophomoric, deviants!"

"Blimey, Hermione, do you read the dictionary in your spare time?" Fred cried incredulously, hopping over the coffee table in the middle of the Common Room.

"Of course not, you idiots," she huffed. She managed to trip one of the twins and sat on his back, repeatedly hitting him over the head with her textbook. "I read that in second year."

"Gred, help me!" the twin yelped, wiggling his body in an attempt to buck Hermione off.

"Never fear, Forge, for I shall save you!" the other twin screeched, letting out a war cry as he charged.

Harry laughed and used the distraction the twins provided to escape to his dorm. "**_I really needed that_**," he told Peter, managing to get his laughter under control. "**_The twins always know what to say to make me feel better._**"

Peter coiled a little tighter around Harry's neck, giving him a snake-hug and delighting in the pleased smile. "**_They're very amusing_**," he replied somewhat dryly.

Harry cocked an eyebrow at Peter's tone of voice. "**_Are you alright?_**"

Peter's tongue flicked out to give Harry a light, ticklish kiss on the cheek. "**_…would you ever consider taking the twins up on their offer?_**"

Harry blinked in confusion before the words registered in his head. His eyes opened slightly in shock and before he could stop himself, he began to laugh. It sounded like Peter was a jealous lover! That thought caused him to promptly choke on his laughter, which he soon discovered was oddly possible, and tried to breathe regularly again.

_"No, Harry. **We're** friends. You and Peter, on the other hand, are more like boyfriends."_

The thought filled Harry's belly with a pleasant warmth and he realized that his heart gave a hopeful leap at the memory. It hit him suddenly that Seamus and the rest of his friends had been right; it seemed only natural that him and Peter would become…like that…

Harry was startled back to the present at the feel of Peter uncoiling himself from his neck and slithering onto the bed. "**_Where are you going?_**" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"**_I understand, Harry_**," Peter replied softly. "**_I wish you and the twins the best._**"

Harry reared back slightly before realizing that he never gave Peter his answer. "**_Don't be daft, Peter. It's unbecoming of you_**," he teased. Harry picked Peter up gently and held him at eye-level. "**_The twins are like my brothers; I would never consider doing anything like THAT with them, silly._**"

"**_You had laughed_**," Peter grumbled, glad that Harry couldn't tell that he was embarrassed. "**_So, I thought that…_**"

"**_Well, you thought wrong_**," Harry retorted. "**_Besides, how can I consider even doing something like that with them when I…_**"

Peter hissed questioningly at Harry. "**_When you what?_**" he pressed.

Harry gave him a tiny grin. "**_I think I like someone_**," Harry replied shyly. "**_I didn't notice at first, but Hermione and the others kind of opened my eyes this morning and gave me some things to consider…_**"

"**_Oh_**," Peter said, his head drooping slightly. "**_Who is it?_**"

Harry shook his head. "**_I don't know for sure_**," he admitted softly. "**_And I want to be completely sure before I say anything._**"

Peter attempted to hide his disappointment. "**_Alright, then,_**" he replied. "**_If you're sure…_**"

Harry frowned. "**_Why do you sound so sad, Peter?_**" the Gryffindor asked.

Peter slithered out of Harry's grip and curled on Harry's pillow, his forked tongue tasting Harry's comfortable scent. "**_It's nothing, really_**," he told Harry quietly.

"**_Something is obviously bothering you, Peter. Whatever it is, you can tell me._**"

Peter raised his head to look at Harry. "**_Do you remember when we were in Neverland? When Hook had taken you and he was taunting me? Do you remember what he said?_**"

Harry swallowed slightly and nodded. "**_Yes, I do_**."

"**_He wasn't lying, Harry_**," Peter said wryly. "**_I did find you cute then and I still find you cute now. Before we officially met, Harry, I used to watch you. And, yes, I know how it sounds, but I couldn't help it. You always looked so peaceful when you were tending to the garden in Surrey and something made me drawn to you; there was something about you that called to me, like a moth to a flame. That's why it had hurt so much when you said you had to leave_**." Peter looked at Harry's shocked expression and continued, "**_I suppose even back then I've had the biggest crush on you_**."

"**_Peter_**," Harry whispered, his eyes widened slightly. "**_I don't quite know what to say…_**"

"**_You don't have to say anything_**," Peter assured. "**_I will support you no matter what, Harry. Even if you can't return my feelings, I'm honored to remain as only your friend_**."

Harry shook his head slightly and picked Peter up once more, cradling the boy-turned-snake against his chest. "**_Silly, silly Peter_**," he said with a tiny chuckle. "**_How could I not feel something for you as well, you silly boy?_**"

Before Peter could say anything, a sniffle caught their attention. Harry and Peter turned their heads to see Hermione, Fred, and George watching them from the doorway. Hermione smiled at them. "I don't understand a word either of you said, but from your expressions, it's probably something akin to a soap opera!" she said, sniffling again and accepting the hanky Fred conjured for her.

Harry flushed slightly. "There's this thing called knocking, guys!" He huffed and turned away from them.

George coughed slightly, gathering the attention of everyone in the room. "Hey, Harry, do you like Muggle fairy tales?"

Harry eyed him suspiciously. "Maybe; why?"

George grinned devilishly. "Do you think if you kissed Peter you could break the prank?"

"GEORGE!"

A/N: I know it's been a while, again, but this chapter has been quite the challenge. Plus, I started college (it's different than high school, that's for sure) and have been taking care of my baby sister (who is currently four months old and the cutest thing on the planet!). Suffice to say, no time to write at all. It's unbelievable!

Anyways, some Peter/Harry interaction. I believe I've written this story back on track. Feedback would be very appreciated, as always, but isn't a requirement. The amount of people adding this story to their alerts is certainly encouraging enough that I'm not messing up too badly. Still, it'd be nice to know what you think.


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